Bathed in Moonlight
by mcangel1976
Summary: Kusanagi Yui has returned to the human world and desperately misses her friends from the garden, especially one. She isn't sure why that is though. Then one day, they suddenly appear again. Will love bloom between Yui and one of the gods, or is everyone fated to be friends and friends alone? What exactly does she feel for the moon god? What about the others?
1. Return

**Disclaimer: I do not own Kamigami no Asobi or its characters, but I will use them in my fanfictions for mine and my readers' utter enjoyment.**

 **A/N: This is my first Kamigami no Asobi story, but I have had the urge to write one for a while now. My friend SugarTensai helped encourage me to write this story. Thanks SugarTensai. This story is based on the anime and not the game. I hope everyone enjoys it! I update at least once a week.**

Chapter 1 – Return

No time had passed in the human world, the entire time Kusanagi Yui spent at the school of the gods seemed like nothing more than a dream; and yet, what she had learned there, the people she met, she knew to be just as real as the tree she was leaning against in her backyard. Nights like this made her miss everyone and the school even more.

The full moon shined brightly, lighting up the garden and everything in it. In the distance, Yui could hear the sounds of the crickets chirping and an owl hooting. The sounds were the echoes of the nightly orchestra and the mood was the conductor. Was he also gazing up at the moon? Were they all? She missed them so much, but sometimes…many times, there was one that would come to mind more often than the others. Maybe she had feelings for him, but she wasn't sure. The only things she knew for sure, she missed her friends and wanted to see them all again.

How were the gods doing? Did they make it out of the garden? She had to believe they did because it hurt too much to think that they had crumbled when the garden had. They were gods, and if their status had not granted them safety and immortality during a disaster, could they really be called a god? It was this belief and hope that she grasped tightly with her whole being, for the reverse would be too heart wrenching to bear.

A tear slid down her cheek as she thought about her time in Zeus's school. She had been taken there against her will, and had finally left the same way – against her will. So many happy memories. Watching Apollo and Tsukito run into the water only to freeze because they were stupid enough to enter when it was autumn. Zeus always liked to mess with his charges. Then again, it was also the day she and Apollo arranged a fireworks show for others. Of course, she also could not forget the whole school play. Cinderella would never be looked at the same again. She trained with Takeru and got stronger, she got to know the real Loki and understand his feelings for his best friend, and she helped Hades understand that although misfortune may fall, it did not have to take away a person's happiness. Somehow she managed to make a connection with each and every one of the gods at the school, and together they rescued Balder.

Connections…connections. There was one connection that had been more forced than any other in the beginning – thanks to Loki – but in the end, the experience taught her more than almost any other. Tsukito never showed much expression, and while he tried to understand humans, he approached everything as a mission. He never really experienced life, living, emotions, or anything else. However, in the end, they had managed to understand each other just a little more, and by the time she was sent home, she liked to think she understood him almost as much as his own brother, but then again, Takeru had known him longer, so probably not.

Just thinking about the memories, both good and bad, brought a smile to her face. The good helped them build a foundation and they had fun with plenty of smiles and laughs. Like the time they went star gazing with Hades and wound up playing in the rain, only for it to end shortly after. The bad taught them perseverance and strengthened the bonds between them. Through saving Balder, they worked together, becoming as one and forging a relationship that nothing could destroy – not even time and space. Each night she looked up at the moon and stars, she remembered everything. She even made a trip out to the sea, to hear the waves…to talk to someone. Could he hear her? Her friends thought she had been an idiot talking to the ocean waves, but she didn't care. The moon seemed so far away when she talked to it at night and the ocean was so close, and since the brothers were Japanese gods, shouldn't she be able to talk to them a little easier? Maybe not, however, what could it hurt? Nothing. And maybe, just maybe, the ocean could pass on her message to the others.

Sighing, she finally stood up to return to her bedroom. It was late and she still had school tomorrow. She didn't want to leave this quiet place, to leave the moon, but she had no choice. Last time she had spent the whole night looking up at the moon, she had fallen asleep in class and wound up with extra cleaning duties, and then her parents scolded her for it as well. How was she supposed to tell them, in the blink of an eye for them, she had spent months in another time and place making friends and falling…? No, she couldn't tell them that she had found friends amongst different gods of the world, two of which were here in Japan. That sounded ludicrous even to her own ears. With one last glance at the full moon, she whispered, "Good night, Tsukito-san. Good night everyone, if you can hear me."

As soon as her head hit the pillow, her eyes closed, and she fell into the world of dreams. Here, she still lived and played with everyone. Here, she was happy. Here, they were still learning together.

The next day, as school came to an end, her friends tried to coerce her into shopping with them, but she declined, "Sorry, but today I can't."

"Eh? Why?" Akane, with short light brown hair, asked.

Chikako, with longer dark brown hair, grinned, "She probably has to practice. Don't bother her. She's been working hard lately." She turned to Yui, "Next time? Maybe we can go out this weekend."

Nodding, Yui smiled, "Hai!" She watched as they walked off to begin their shopping adventure. She would have gone with them, but not today. Today it had been exactly three months since she had last seen everyone, and it seemed as if it was harder today than any other.

Her feet took her home and before she realized it, she stood at the foot of the stairs that led to the shrine where she lived. Maybe she should have taken her friends up on their offer so she wouldn't have to think about… No, she had duties to complete and then she would allow herself to remember. Trudging up the stairs, she wished, just once, she could see them again.

"Kusanagi."

Looking around her, she found no one. Did someone call her name?

"Yui-san."

Her head whipped around. No one.

"Kusanagi Yui."

These voices sounded just like her friends. Closing her eyes, she could almost see them.

"Kusanagi-san."

She dropped her bag and sword and looked up towards the top of the stairs.

"Kusanagi!"

She started to climb the stairs again.

Kusanagi."

She looked up and started to speed up.

Kusanagi…"

She started to run. Cresting the top of the stairs, she gasped, her eyes growing wide. Standing before her were the very men she had been dreaming about, longing to see.

"Fairy!"

They were all there. They had made it out alive, without problems. Tears started to fall from her eyes.

"Teach us again. We want you to be our teacher," Apollo said with a bright smile.

Her own mirrored his and she ran towards them needed to make sure they were real, "Hai!" She hugged them all, and she had no doubt in her mind that she was not imagining things any longer. There for a moment, she had wondered if she was starting to lose it completely; however, they were not ghosts, they were here, they were real, and they would be able to make more memories together.


	2. Staying

**A/N: Thank you everyone! I loved reading everyone's reviews and to see a positive response to this story! I have always said I have amazing readers. Enjoy the new chapter!**

Chapter 2 – Staying

Sitting around the table in her family's living room, the sunlight enveloping the room through the open sliding door which led to the porch and outdoors, and sipping tea felt a little surreal to Yui. Was she dreaming? Couldn't be because she had pinched herself to verify the vision before her, and nothing changed. The eight gods still sat around the table drinking the tea she had served.

Happiness flooded her being, threatening to overwhelm her if it wasn't for the small sliver of disappointment – and she couldn't exactly say why she felt it at all. Her friends surrounded her, Balder and Apollo sat on either side of her with the others circling the table. Tsukito and his brother were the furthest away, sitting directly across from her. So far away. Shaking off those thoughts because she was not yet ready to explore her actual feelings. She asked, "How? How did all of you get out? What happened after I left?"

Takeru snorted with amusement, "Did you forget who we are, weed? Something that small wouldn't destroy us!"

"I've…I've missed all of you. I was so worried and afraid after you sent me home. I tried to come back, but I couldn't find the sword." Tears started to form in her eyes and roll down her cheeks once again.

Seeing her reaction, the others started to panic and feel slightly guilty for not seeking her out sooner. "Don't cry, Fairy," Apollo rushed, pulling her into his arms and embracing her tightly. There was something soothing about this particular human and he loved having her close to him. For the first time since Cassandra, he could honestly say he cared about a human and wanted to be by their side.

Balder tried to pull her away from the blond Greek God, but the other held tight. Instead of fighting in front of Yui, he patted her back and ran his hand through her hair, "We're sorry, Yui-san. We had to help Zeus repair and rebuild the garden. If it exploded, it might have spelled disaster for other worlds, including our own homes and yours."

"Eh? How?" She lifted her head, her gaze travelling to each one of her friends, before automatically settling on the purple haired Japanese Moon God across from her.

"My misfortune brought this about," Hades sighed.

Releasing the girl, Apollo explained, "My father created that table top garden in another dimension, however, it was on the cusp between the world of gods and the world of humans. One of the reasons he put those limiters on us was so that the garden wouldn't become unstable, but as they were broken, the garden became more and more stable. It would have been one thing if it was just us, but he had to put a special protection on it so that you could be there as well."

Never before had she heard this man speak so detailed about complicated matters, "So everyone made it out? What about Thoth-sensei?"

"Everyone made it out safely and returned to their own lands after the garden was repaired. He was an idiot for doing what he did," Dionysus shook his head and rolled his eyes, and then he winked, "But I will admit, it was fun. All that wine though…I had just finished growing a new crop of grapes."

Yui couldn't help but laugh at his lamenting, "I'm sure it would have been wonderful."

"It would have! Those were some of the best grapes I've grown!"

"You can grow more."

"Here?"

"Eh? Uh, I…I don't know."

Snapping his fingers together, Loki announced, "I forgot! I brought a bottle of wine especially for you from home!" He reached into his coat and pulled out a large bottle of spirits and placed it in front of the God of Wine and Merrymaking.

No one was sure if they forgot who had given him the bottle or if he was just really craving a glass of wine, but no one was surprised when Dionysus opened the bottle and he was sprayed with the red liquid. And when Loki started to roll around on the floor laughing, they knew the bottle had been rigged – not that they hadn't suspected something like that in the first place.

"Loki!" The redhead seethed and stood to his feet.

Sensing he was in a great deal of trouble, the prankster laughed and stuck his tongue out at the other god before running outside away from doom.

"We would have been here sooner, but we had to finish our work. It took longer than expected, but we succeeded," Tsukito announced.

Smiling at him, Yui said, "I'm glad you came when you could."

There was something about the smile on her face that didn't sit well with Balder and Apollo. She should be turning her smiles upon them, not the unexpressive moon god…or at least that what each of them thought.

Seeing her smiling face, Takeru's own heart started to race. How could something so small and simple cause such a reaction in him? He didn't know. He had tried to talk to his brother about it before, but that conversation didn't go very well, and in the end, he was even more confused than when he started. It's not that Tsukito didn't have feelings, the sea god knew he did, but his older brother's understanding of emotions and human situations was still at a grade school level. Maybe one day Tsukito would find someone who made his own pulse speedup like lightning through his veins. As it was, Takeru sometimes didn't believe he had started to have any sort of feelings for the human girl. She was… human after all.

"Umm, where will all of you be staying? You…You said you wanted me to teach you again. What did you mean?"

"We will be attending your school as exchange students. You have recently had your closing ceremony for the year. Correct? Did we miss much of the new term?" Tsukito explained.

"You knew?"

"Hai."

"Actually we did, but the new term started a few weeks ago. You haven't missed much though," her voice replied quietly, a little surprised the moon god knew so much. Wait! "Going to school with me? My school?" She must have heard wrong.

"Hai. We feel that we still have a lot to learn about humans and will be attending your school to better understand them."

"What?"

"It's true! It'll be so much fun, Yui-san!" Balder grabbed her hands excitedly.

Her head was spinning, "And where are you going to be staying?"

"Here! We'll make more memories and have a wonderful time, Fairy!" Apollo grabbed her away from Balder and hugged her again.

A little annoyed about the other blond, Balder pulled her away from Apollo and hugged her himself.

Thor could see where this was leading and said, "Your parents have already been informed. While you were at school, Zeus talked to them and arranged everything. Would you please show us to our sleeping quarters? They said something about staying in the dormitory where pilgrims and such stay."

"The bunker house where people who are on pilgrimages and come for festival?" Yui questioned.

"Yes. That is the location."

"Uh, hai," she nodded and was finally able to free herself from the two warring gods, unsure about what exactly set them off this time. "Follow me." Getting to her feet, she waited for the others to do the same and then led the way to a building separated from the main house and temple, and set a little in the back. An unassuming building that most ignored while worshipping at this temple, which is exactly the way it should be.

Yui was still confused as to this sudden turn of events, and didn't know what to think. Her parents actually approved of this? Zeus had been here? Did her parents actually understand that they would have eight different gods living in their temple? Granted her family believed in the gods and even prayed to them, but this was something else entirely; and yet, a small thrill went through her at the thought of a certain someone being close enough to talk to without having to look up at the sky.

Leaving them to get settled in, she needed to complete her chores before dinner and knew it would not be appropriate to remain in that building with them. She turned on her heel and was about to leave when Loki rushed passed her followed closely by Dionysus. Losing her footing, she would have fallen if a certain purple haired god had not caught her. "A-Arigato, Tsukito-san."

"Please be careful. Kusanagi Yui. You are our guide for this mission," he replied and set her on her feet.

"H-Hai." Sometimes she forgot how serious the moon god could be, and while her heart raced when he saved her, his reaction felt like a bucket of ice water had been dumped on her head. Nothing had changed. He was the same. "I'll let you unpack and get settled." She ran away, towards her home, and prayed he did not see her blush or hear her frantic heartbeat.

Tsukito felt a little sad at her reaction. Did he do something wrong again? She almost felt a million miles away from him, and yet, she was so close. How was that even possible? He had much to learn still and he had a feeling, she was the only one who could teach him.

Running into the house, Yui decided to get to work to take her mind off of things. She started to clear the table and when she was about to start washing the dishes, her mother entered the kitchen, "Yui, did our guests get settled in?"

"Hai. I showed them were the dorms were."

"We will count on you to show them around and make the introductions. They are going to be here until at least summer, so please make sure you help when needed."

"Hai, kaa-san."

"They are an interesting group of young men. I can't believe they are all your age, but they aren't exactly from here, so I guess foreigners mature a little differently. They are all good looking though. Don't you think?"

"Uh, hai. Kaa-san, two of them are from Japan."

"Oh, that's right, but they are coming from a different school in Japan. I was told they recently studied abroad as well."

"Hai, they did." Her thoughts turned to the memories she made with the others in the other school, and for some reason, they quickly turned to the night of the moon festival and a certain moon god.

"They seemed to know you. Have you met them before?"

"Uh…we met at the park and talked for a while. I didn't know they would be attending my school though." As close to the truth as she would or could disclose.

"That's good. At least they know someone and it might not be tooo strange for them."

If only her mother knew the truth of the matter, but Yui would not be the one to spill. However, she had to wonder, claiming to be foreigners would only get them so far and only allow for so many excuses of behavior, could they really fit into human society? They had a hard enough time at the other school. She could still remember when she tried to explain what an opening ceremony was. Tsukito mentioned a sacrifice. She would do what she could for them. But she had to question the intelligence of this decision. That being said, she couldn't be happier that they were here, closer than she ever imagined they would ever be again. A smile on her face, she began her chores. The moon seemed a little closer than it previously had.


	3. Running

**A/N: Thank you everyone! I did want to let you know that I screwed up a little on my timeline in chapter 2, but I have fixed it and reposted the chapter. Just a minoor change. Also, I will be going to visit my older sister in Virginia for a few weeks. I'll still be writing, but it might get haphazard for a bit. Just wanted to let you know that my updating will be a bit spotty for a while. Enjoy the new chapter!**

 **PS... My novel is done and back from the proofreaders. After doing some minor corrections, I will be self-publishing this week! I'm beyond excited. As soon as I get it published, I will give you all of the information for those who would like to read it.**

Chapter 3 – Running

Yui got up early like she normally did. Stretched like she had been doing since she got back from the tabletop garden, and prepared for her run, like she had been doing since she had been back. What was not normal in her routine…as soon as she walked outside she gasped, and would have fallen if someone had not caught her in time. The time right after dawn had become her mecca. The time when she could clear her head or spend it thinking about her friends – not that she didn't do that other times as well. "Th-Thank you, Takeru-san," she managed to stammer.

So many times she had dreamed and imagined the gods there with her, that they had left the school together, and every morning she had been disappointed to find herself alone. Even with the appearance of the gods the day before, she had somehow convinced herself it was all a dream and it wasn't real. Seeing Takeru before her, feeling his heat and body when he caught her…he was real, and he was there.

"You look like you've seen a ghost, weed," he teased her.

"It's just…It's just that…" her voice trailed off unable to give voice to the words in her heart and head.

"I know. Sorry about that. We really didn't think so much time had passed and we had duties to attend to when we were done before we could come here," he scratched the back of his head, looking a bit sheepish; and then his expression changed and he grinned, "Good to see that all the training I gave you isn't going to waste."

A confused expression appeared on her face, "Eh?" As if a lightbulb had turned on over her head, she said, "Oh! Hai! I still run and do everything you taught me!"

"Well then, can I join you?"

"Eh?"

"You know the area better than I do. Can I join you, weed?"

"H-Hai!" Her heart soared. It had felt like a lifetime since she and the Sea God had run and trained together, and this morning, old routines began anew.

As they ran together, one thing continued to plague her thoughts: had he heard her when she had spoken to him? Had Tsukito? While she was not sure how to talk to the others, she knew she could pray to the Moon God and Sea God, or at least she should have been able to. Had it worked?

Running side by side, Takeru could tell Yui had something on her mind, but she wasn't talking. He tried to let it go, until she ignored a "Do Not Walk" sign at an intersection and almost got hit by a car. He had pulled her to safety just in the nick of time, and his temper flared, "What are you doing? This isn't some magical land where the only danger around you is falling off a cliff!"

Her body shook and her eyes widened. Her friend had saved her yet again, "Arigato! Gomen! I-I…"

He pulled her into his arms and felt the wet tears start to fall from her eyes. Sighing, he muttered, "You have to be more careful. I won't always be there to save you. Wasn't it you that asked us to come back?"

"What?!"

"Nothing. Come on. We're going back to the temple."

"No. I'm fine. Let's finish."

"No."

"Yes."

His eyes roved over her body from head to toe and back up again before he finally relented, "When did a weed like you grow a backbone?"

Her hands clenched into fists and she stomped her foot, "I am not a coward."

"I know," he laughed and ruffled her hair, his hand sliding down to cup her cheek. Staring into her eyes, he stayed like that for no more than a second before he took a step back and told her, "Well, if you really think you can keep up without getting killed, let's go, weed." Taking off in the direction they had been headed, he left her behind only to hear her ranting a moment later, followed closely by the sounds of her feet running on the pavement.

It felt gratifying and free to run with her again, and yet, it also hurt in a way because he knew where her heart truly lie, and it wasn't with him, or Balder, or even Apollo. Her heart called out for his brother. The moment she had stepped into the waters of the sea, he had known she was there, could feel her; and when she had spoken, he had heard her fervent prayer, had listened to everything she said that day…and the ones that followed. Three times total she had come to him, to talk to him, to plead with him to pass on a message to the Moon God; and although it hurt, he had done as requested. Of course, he also heard when her friends laughed at her, not completely understanding why Yui did what she did, or why she tried to talk to the sea. It wasn't his fault – okay, maybe it was – that a large wave crashed feet from them and they were showered with the sea spray.

The other two times, she had come without them. He tried to show her that he had heard her, however, he knew she didn't understand the way the waves had become more gentle around her, how only the area surrounding her warmed up a few degrees and calmed down compared to the rest of the sea, or how the sea creatures circled around her as if to comfort her. She had smiled at all of that, but she still did not know it was him that had done it for her.

Before Kusanagi Yui, Takeru never believed he would ever be close to anyone other than his brother again. At home, no one really accepted him except for Tsukito, and he doubted it would be different anywhere else. He had been wrong. In that garden of Zeus's creation, he had found people who honestly cared about him and wanted to be his friend; and he had found a human girl who could invoke emotions within him that he had never experienced before. He still didn't completely comprehend them, but he knew she was the cause. A human nobody seemed to have more power than some of the gods he knew. How else could she teach eight misfit gods (more if you wanted to count Thoth and Zeus) about humans and emotions? This little slip of a human had the courage to stand up to the gods and the cunning to carve herself forever into their hearts and minds. While gods may live for an eternity, her life would only last in the blink of an eye for them, but they would never forget her.

When they had come back in order to live with her for a little longer, he had silently vowed to help unite her with his brother. Ever since they had forced her back home, Takeru noticed a change come over his brother. Tsukito was sighing a little more and gazing up at the moon with a longing never seen before. The purple haired god would also rub his finger periodically, the same finger that once had a ring circling it – a ring that had caused so much trouble and jealousy. Tsukito missed Yui, and Takeru would do what he could to help his brother because his brother had always been there for him.

"Ne, weed!" He spoke suddenly, "Who did you miss most from school?"

She stumbled a little, "Eh? Wh-What do you mean?"

He wanted to laugh, but managed to hold it in behind his smile, "Who did you miss most? It isn't a hard question."

"I-I missed all of you!" She proclaimed, blushing a little and trying to stay on her feet. His question had shocked her, causing her to almost trip.

"I know that, but that isn't the question."

Never before had she been more grateful to see the steps leading to the temple hovering in the near distance. Without answering, she started to sprint for the stairs, leaving him behind.

If she thought she could lose him, she thought wrong. Increasing his speed, he easily caught up to her and then passed her, reaching the stairs well before her and then ascending them without breaking his stride. By the time she crested the top of the stairs, he was already starting his cool down and told her, "Answer the question, weed."

"My name is Kusanagi Yui, not weed!"

"Are we really having this argument again?"

"Ex-Excuse me. I have to go do my chores and then I'm meeting my friends to go shopping."

"Fairy! Can we come too?" Apollo seemed to appear out of nowhere and cling to her.

Balder casually walked up to her with Loki and Thor behind him, "Yui-san, may we please join you?"

"Hai! Hai! This will be the perfect opportunity to observe a lot of humans together," Loki declared, but the glint in his eye made everyone slightly afraid of what he might have up his sleeve.

It was a losing battle and she knew it. Her shoulders slumped over, she finally groaned, "Hai, you can come too." Something told her, today would be more exhausting than the typical shopping trip with her friends. Maybe she could crawl back into bed and hide for the day.


	4. Introductions

**A/N: I'm finally back from my sister's and getting back into the swing of my normal updating schedule. I apologize for it taking longer to update than usual. My plan was to only stay for two weeks and I wound up staying for three. Enjoy the new chapter! After this chapter, things will pick up a lot.**

 **PS… For those interested, I have published my book Another Chance and it is available in a softback or e-book on Amazon (although, I have been told you should be able to order the book from major book sellers in 6-8 weeks). Another Chance by Maria Vickers. Thank you everyone!**

Chapter 4 – Introductions

Standing in the shower after her run, Yui briefly contemplated what would happen if she stalled long enough. Would the gods give up and do their own thing? Probably not. They were like a dog with a bone with they had made up their mind or decided they wanted something. A perfect example would have been when they went to the ocean for their summer trip, although the seasons had turned from summer to fall in the blink of an eye, Apollo had marched straight into the ocean and refused to admit he was cold. Yui firmly believed that hell would have frozen over before he would admit such a thing…even after he and Tsukito had to be yanked out of the water by Takeru and Dionysus – Hades refused to enter the water because he believed his misfortune would cause the two idiots to drown.

Why did she not want them to go? She had prayed, begged, and pleaded for them to come and find her, and now that she had, she was trying to blow them off; and at first, she had believed them to be nothing more than a dream or a figment of her imagination. At least she had believed that until this morning. Takeru was up and waiting for her this morning so they could run together like they used to in the garden, and he even had to rescue her like he had to do previously.

So why was she trying to avoid them? Was it her running partner's line of questioning? Could be. She was still a little confused as to his end game. Was it possible that he had actually heard her pleas? Just thinking that was a possibility made her face turn bright red. She had stood in the sea multiple times and asked the Sea God how much she missed him and the others, and how much she wanted them back; and then she asked him to tell his brother that every night she looked up at the moon, she felt comforted, like she wasn't so alone. Maybe she had confessed something more, and maybe she let the ocean absorb her tears, but somehow she had convinced herself that although they may know she was there, they would not be able to hear everything she whispered into the wind.

This shouldn't be so difficult. They were going to be attending her school after all, thus they would be meeting her friends anyway. What was the difference between meeting them at the mall and meeting them during school? Nothing really. The other students were bound to go gaga over them, and the gods were sure to be popular. Did that then mean they would find another human that could teach them better than she? Would Loki force Tsukito to be bound to another girl at school? Maybe even one of her friends? She shook her head. No, not just Tsukito, any of the gods. Would her friends try to become intimate with one of the gods? Of course there was also the worry that one of the gods would do something that could actually level the mall. She still remember when she tried to describe the ceremony for the first day of school, they wanted to make a sacrifice. She shuddered.

Her mind drifted to Apollo. The memory of Cassandra was still fresh on her mind. It was a cautionary tale that the lives of humans and gods did not mingle well. They were immortal, while she was a mere mortal. Then again, there was that old saying of "better to have love and lost than never to have loved at all". Shaking her head free of that thought process, she refused to go down that road. The gods were nothing more than friends. All of them. Not one of them were anything else. And that conviction made her feel heartbroken.

"Yui, Akane-Chan and Chikako-Chan are here," her mother called out through the bathroom door.

"Hai!" She yelled back and proceeded to rush through the rest of her shower, mumbling to herself, "Either they're early or I've been in here a while. Probably early." Sometimes her friends could get a little impatient and unable to wait if it had been a while since they had all hung out together…that and they loved her mother's breakfast.

True enough, by the time she had finished with her shower and gotten dressed for the day, Yui strolled through the house and found her friends and the gods surrounding the dining room table partaking in the feast her mother had prepared. As soon as she had stepped into her bedroom to change, she had looked at the clock and knew her friends had arrived two hours early. She wasn't even sure why she was surprised any longer. She should have just invited them over for breakfast since they tended to invite themselves anyway.

Seeing his sister in the doorway, her eldest brother, Manabu said, "If you don't get in here, you won't get breakfast."

Her other brother, Jun, snickered, "That's right. Our guests and your friends will eat it all."

"You'll help," Manabu teased his younger brother.

"Hai!"

Shaking her head, Yui walked inside and stated, "Hai! I'm here." She was about to sit between her brothers, even though Apollo and Balder were trying to get her to sit next to either of them, when a seat opened up between the Moon God and the Sea God, and she took it; although, she could have sworn there was absolutely no space between them a moment ago, and was further shocked when she found a plate slide in front of her with food laid out upon it. Following the arm attached to the hand, her eyes fell upon the unexpressive face of the purple haired god, "Tsukito-san?"

"I thought you might be hungry, Kusanagi Yui. I wasn't sure if everyone else would eat it all," he replied in his matter of fact voice.

"Ari-Arigato, Tsukito-san," she managed to mutter as her eyes returned to the plate before her and said, "Itadakimasu!" There was a time when he wouldn't have done something like this, so she wondered who had planted the idea in his head. Or had he actually thought of doing this for her without direction?

"Tsuki-Tsuki!" Apollo cried out. Why hadn't he thought of doing something like that for her?

Balder yelled, "Totsuka-san!" He had wanted Yui to sit with him so he could feed her from his own plate, and now she had chosen to sit with the two Japanese gods, and one of them had even made a plate of food for her. It wasn't fair!

"Ano, Yui, when did you get houseguests?" Akane asked.

"Eh, uh, yesterday. They're exchange students!" Yui rushed to answer.

"Ehhh, so all of you will be going to school with us?"

Yui could already see the interest her friends had in the gods and hearing that they would be attending their school, little hearts practically replaced their eyes. Before she could say anything though, someone else had chosen to answer.

"If you are going to school with Fairy, then yes," Apollo grinned widely.

"Fairy?" Chikako inquired, her eyes darted quickly to her friend. "Have you known each other long?"

"NO! We met recently at the park. That's all," Yui quickly responded before anyone else could. She had no idea what would come out of their mouths and wanted to cut off any "questionable" answers quickly.

To Akane and Chikako, especially Akane, it seemed like their friend had known these men a little longer than recently, but they would leave it for now. The way they saw it, there were now several good-looking men in front of them, and that meant they might be able to get a handsome boyfriend; although, it did appear as if most of the guys had their eyes on Yui. Well, their friend couldn't have them all.

"Uh-huh," Chikako nodded and returned to eating her breakfast.

Already, Yui felt the pressure of having the gods with her, and yet, when she looked out of the corner of her eye and found the Moon God, she felt calmer. She wasn't sure what it was about him, but his presence made her feel like everything would be all right…some way.

But that feeling only lasted until they started to walk to the mall. First, it started to rain the moment they were off of the steps that led to her temple home; and then, Balder and Apollo each tried to protect her from the downpour, resulting in a tug-o-war. One of her shirt sleeves was ripped off in the process. Hades immediately decided this was all his fault due to misfortune following him. After her sleeve was ripped and fell down the arm Balder was holding, Apollo jerked her one more time towards him, and she slipped and would have fallen to the ground had Thor not been there to catch her. Takeru got mad at the other two gods and started to yell at them, calling them "bakas" during the tongue lashing. Tsukito checked on her, and when he did, she started to blush and managed to tell him she was fine. And her friends were there to witness it all, and her one thought was, "Surely it has to get better from here."


	5. Trouble

**A/N: Poor Yui. Life as she knows it…or at least life as she knew it BG (before the gods), is about to blow up in smoke. Maybe literally if she isn't careful. Enjoy the new chapter!**

Chapter 5 – Trouble

Better? Had she really believed things would get better? If anything, the day went even further downhill than it initially had and Yui was ready to take her sword and chop some heads off, but she wouldn't because she wasn't a violent person and because she didn't want to get her blade dirty. These were her friends, and no matter how much they all made her want to pull her hair out, she loved them.

After the downpour, which had led to the destruction of one of Yui's favorite shirts (luckily it could be mended), everyone decided as a whole that it would be better to return to the shrine instead of venturing out to the mall. The fact that the rain had picked up and now it was thundering and the sky was lit up might have had some bearing on their decision. That decision might have been a mistake, but then again, maybe not.

Yui's friends, Akane and Chikako, were intrigued by these men that had suddenly arrived on the shrine's doorstep. They were good looking and seemed to have a glow about them. It was almost like they were from some other world; and it was more than apparent that they knew Yui fairly well. When had they met? Why hadn't their friend told them about meeting them? Were they the reason she had been acting sort of strange the past few weeks? She had not wanted to hang out and when she did, it was almost like she was forcing herself to leave her room. Lately, it had become kind of awkward to be around her, and they didn't know how to help her; therefore, they pretended not to notice and hoped that if they acted normal, eventually Yui would as well. It all began the day she had started crying on their way home on the day of the closing ceremony at school. Neither Akane nor Chikako ever found out what had happened or why their friend had behaved so oddly. Yui would just say that she had forgotten to do something for her parents that day, but they never really believed her.

Now as the men were elsewhere changing out of their wet clothes, and the girls were in Yui's room to change into dry clothes themselves, Akane decided to dig for more information, "Ne, Yui? You and those boys seem very close. How long have you known them?"

"EH?!" Yui answered shocked. She had been hoping her two friends would not pry.

Chikako nodded and added, "They act as if they have known you longer than just recently."

"Ano. I was practicing my sword at a park one morning and they were wandering around the same park. We talked and wound up spending the day together," answered the purple haired teen. Did her explanation seem believable? Plausible?

"Yui?!" Akane grinned excitedly, "Do any of them have girlfriends?"

"Girl…friends?"

"Hai!"

"Ano. I…" The thought of one of her friends seeking out the company of a certain god caused her chest to ache, and before she could answer, Chikako jumped on that train of thought as well.

"They all seem like gentlemen and they are all really good looking. That purple haired one is really handsome. He is really quiet though."

A knife twisted in Yui's heart. "I'm…I'm not sure if they do, but they won't be here that long. It wouldn't be good to date them and then have to end it because they had to go home."

Akane would not let that deter her, "Hai, but this is our last year of high school. We could always follow them if it is true love!"

Yui knew that no girl here on earth would be able to follow the gods. Not if they were human, however, that was not something she could share with her friends.

"What was his name?" Chikako inquired.

"His name?" Confusion marred Yui's face as she tilted her head. Had she missed part of the conversation?

Nodding, the girl with long brown hair asked, "Hai. The purple haired guy's name. What was it?"

"Tsukito-san?"

"That was it!"

Before she could stop herself from saying anything, Yui blurted out, "He has someone special to him!"

Chikako studied her friend for a moment before she asked, "Do you like him or something? Are you two together?"

"No. I just remember…" A knock at the door interrupted the girl talk and Yui called out, "Hai?"

"Yui, the boys are waiting on you. You girls come out and get to know them a little more. All of you will be classmates, so don't be rude," her mother ordered after sticking her head through a small crack in the door.

"Hai! We're coming," she answered, grateful for the reprieve; although, if she thought about it, moving to the living room meant Akane and Chikako would be in the same room with the gods and that could be bad as well, but at least this way, she didn't have to worry about the Spanish Inquisition…or so she believed.

Joining the guys in the living room, Yui's natural inclination was to sit between the brothers as she had at breakfast, but before she could claim the empty space there, Chikako took the spot. And that is where it started to take a turn for the even worse.

Tsukito had always been blunt, and the lessons Yui taught him had not changed anything. This seat had been saved for a certain girl and it was his duty to make sure she sat there, "This seat is for Kusanagi Yui."

With a nervous laugh, Yui tried to be the gracious hostess, "No, she sat there first. It's okay. I'll sit…"

"No, this seat was saved for you."

Her face started to turn red. Why was he so insistent?

"Ani…"

"Takeru, you said we should save a place for Kusanagi Yui. It is my duty to make sure it gets done."

Face palming, the younger Japanese God grumbled, "I did, but…"

"Should we not have saved a place for her?"

"Ani…"

Apollo patted the spot between him and Dionysus, "I have a place for you, Fairy."

Balder waved her towards him, "Yui-san, over here."

"Uh, I'll just sit over here," Yui quickly stated and sat between Hades and Dionysus. For some reason, she knew if she chose Apollo or Balder, she would end up in the middle of another tug-o-war, and she would rather not destroy another shirt.

Akane took the empty place between Apollo and Dionysus that he had been saving for Yui. "All of you seem so close after just a short period of time together." She was almost jealous of the attention her friend was getting from these men.

"Sometimes when you are thrown together and face a difficult task, it creates bonds you might have otherwise miss out on," Thor responded.

"Difficult task?"

"He means when they were lost and found me in the park!" Yui rushed.

Thor quickly agreed, "Yes, what she said."

"Where are you from?" Chikako inquired.

The gods all exchanged looks before Hades answered, "Many different places and all of them are far away."

"Who travelled the shortest distance?" Akane asked.

"I guess that would be me and Ani," Takeru supplied.

"So you two are brothers?"

"Hai. We were born on the same day along with our other brother when our father…" Tsukito began.

Yui knew he was about to explain how the gods came into being and quickly inserted, "I didn't know you had another brother!"

Takeru suddenly looked murderous, "Hn. His name is Akira."

Chikako asked, "Why didn't he come? What grade will all of you be in?"

"They are all in grade 3," Yui answered for them, unsure of how they would answer for themselves.

"So you are triplets?" Chikako asked Tsukito.

"We were born on the same day if that is what you are asking," he responded.

If anything, she believed that to be a truly cryptic answer, and she pressed forward, "Do you have a girlfriend?"

"I have Kusanagi Yui. She is a girl and a friend."

With this answer, Apollo and Balder looked outraged, five other gods sweat dropped, and Yui's friends from school head whipped around to gape at her so quickly, they could possibly suffer from whiplash. As for Yui herself, she felt like she was about to be tried and convicted under their scrutiny. Was it wrong for her to wish Zeus would whisk her away at that very moment?

Attempting hold in his laughter and keep it to himself, Dionysus stammered with the effort, "She…She means are you romantically involved with anyone. Betrothed or otherwise involved."

Tilting his head to the side, Tsukito said, "I am not currently romantically involved, nor am I betrothed. I have not been told that I need to obtain one."

Takeru face palmed again as his eyes darted towards the purple haired girl across from them. To him, she looked hurt and ready to bolt. In his brother's defense, Tsukito could be a bit clueless from time to time and he took everything pretty literally. "A-Ani…"

"You are not involved either. Have you been told to get married?"

"N-No, but there are not…" If Takeru continued with that sentence, he would be sharing things with Chikako and Akane that they did not need to know. "Ani, where is Usamaro?" It was his attempt at changing the subject, and he hoped it worked.

"Who is Usamaro?" Chikako asked.

"My rabbit. It was a present from Takeru," Tsukito said.

She clapped her hands together and gushed, "I would love to see him!"

Yui wanted to roll her eyes, she wanted to slap her friend, and most of all, she wanted to run to her room and bury her head in her pillow so she would not have to watch her friend attempting to flirt with the Moon God.

"Yui, can you take okaa-san some more of the luck charms?" Her father asked, interrupted the group of young people.

"Hai!" She would take what she could get, and at least this offered a small escape.

"I will go and help you," Tsukito offered.

"I'll go too!" Apollo and Balder shouted and stood up, knocking the table. Tea cups shook and fell over and hot water fell into Loki and Hades' laps.

A gloomy air surrounding him, the God of the Underworld muttered, "Misfortune follows me again."

Jumping up, Yui ran to the kitchen to grab some towels for the two gods and handed them to Balder and Apollo and asked them to help take care of their friends. That done, she turned to leave the room with Tsukito following closely behind her. She was on edge and nervous to be alone with this particular god, but she couldn't help except to feel happy as well because he had offered to accompany her. "Tsukito-san, you didn't have to come with me."

"I felt like I failed in my mission and this was a way to make it up to you," he told her.

"Failed? Mission?"

"Hai. To save you a seat."

"Oh! Th-That's okay!"

"I tried to tell her the reason it was empty so that she would move, but she refused. Seeing as she is your friend, I did not feel you would like it if I forced her out."

"Eh? NO!"

"I was right. I think things will be more complicated here than in our other school. I am happy to see you again, but I am apprehensive about this new school."

He wasn't the only one. Yui was almost terrified to see what would happen at this school. Between Loki's tricks, the gods' lack of understanding of the human world, etc., this could be a disaster in the making. Plastering on a smile, she said, "It will be all right because we're together."

His eyes turned to her and he gave her a small smile, "Hai. We are all together."

Meanwhile in the living room, Takeru held a sword in his hands in order to force Apollo and Balder from following his brother and Yui, "They will be right back. You don't need to follow!"

"But what if something happens to Fairy?!" Apollo argued.

"Are you saying Ani would do something to hurt her?"

Waving his hand, Balder smiled, "That isn't what he was saying, but three can protect her better than one."

"She doesn't need protection! This is her home and nothing is going to happen!" Takeru growled. The moment they took a step forward, he swung his blade and forced them to jump backwards. "Just so you know, I'm not afraid to use this."

Scared, Akane and Chikako didn't know what to say, do, or think. They couldn't leave the room because the only way out was being blocked by a blue headed teen with a very sharp looking sword. Akane finally asked, "He won't really use that on them, will he?"

Looking down at the girl next to him, Loki snickered, "He might, but don't worry, they won't be hurt."

"How can they not be hurt by that sword?!"

"Magic," he winked and offered her a piece of candy.

"Arigato." She accepted the treat and popped it into her mouth before immediately spitting it out again. In her hand, the ball was dissolving into dirt. "EW!"

Chikako's face showed her disgust, "That's gross!"

Loki eyed her and said, "So is the way you're throwing yourself at someone you only just met." He tossed a small brightly wrapped tube towards her and it exploded, covering only her with orange dust.

"Loki-Loki!" Apollo yelled. He had turned around when he heard the pop knowing the trickster was up to something bad.

"What did I do?" Loki queried innocently.

By the time Yui and Tsukito returned, both of her friends were in tears and the gods were arguing amongst themselves. The moment the door opened and Takeru dropped the sword, Chikako and Akane ran out of the room saying they were going home. Yui decided the gods were dangerous…almost too dangerous for the human world. What was going to happen at school on Monday?


	6. Wishes

**A/N: I hope everyone is doing well. For those who are about to start school or those that have started, good luck in the new school year! Enjoy the new chapter! I wanted to have that transition chapter and a little alone time with our two main characters.**

Chapter 6 – Wishes

That night after everyone had turned in and were well into their slumber, Yui's body refused to go to sleep. Maybe it was habit or because today had been less than perfect, but she had an overwhelming urge to see the moon; and thus, she stepped out of her room, sat down in the cool grass, and gazed up at the glowing moon.

Today it seemed a little closer, and yet, she knew exactly how far away it truly was: a million miles and maybe more. Tears burned her eyes and her heart clenched when she replayed everything that happened earlier in the day. Tsukito saved her a spot because he had been told to do so. Everything he did had been because he viewed it as a duty or task, not because he wanted to, or felt anything for her. It really shouldn't surprise her, she shouldn't feel hurt because this is the way he had been since the day they had met in that other school. Even that seemed like another life, or maybe it happened to a different person. Maybe it was all a dream.

Shaking her head, she rejected that thought. If it had all been a dream, they wouldn't be here now and she wouldn't be worried how the school will react to these new students. Was it wrong of her to wish that would not stand out, that no one would want to know who these men are? But then again, she knew that was a hopeless fantasy.

Maybe in the past she denied why she would be feeling like this. Aloud, she would never admit to anything; however, alone with only her and the silvery moon, she could declare, at least in her heart, that she had feelings for the moon god. It took her a while before she was even ready to admit that to herself though, and after today's events, she couldn't exactly hide it. When she had heard he was saving her a place, her heart had raced even knowing he was probably doing it out of duty. And when he admitted it, her heart cracked. It didn't completely shatter, but it was wounded.

Now as she sat out in the moonlit sky, she was torn. Should she give up now and continue being his friend and teacher, or did she try to win his heart, risking their friendship and her own heart? If she risked it, it would be her duty to teach him about real love…not just what the others (especially Apollo) told him when their hands had been joined. If she could actually teach him, impart the knowledge of emotions and real feelings unto him, then maybe she would have a chance at winning his love…or losing it because he would choose someone else. Could she do it? Could Tsukito be taught that not everything was a duty? The lesson had already started the day they were connected because as they were gathering the grass, he told her that he had always looked at the moon, he knew nothing else, and he had no intention of learning anything else…he just wasn't interested. She argued that the time she spent with him while they were preparing for the Moon Viewing Festival was fun and she enjoyed herself with him. He had given her a funny look; and then at the Moon Viewing, Tsukito told her that he still didn't understand the concept, but the moon had never looked more beautiful before. It was a start.

And that start turned into more. Tsukito learned what it mean to be friends, otherwise his shackle would have never been broken. He fought with the others to save Balder, he comforted Loki when the redheaded god was on the verge of giving up, and he helped to send her home so that she would not perish, telling her that he would never forget the things she taught him. Just as he would never forget what she taught him, neither would she. She would forever remember him and the times they shared in that tabletop garden.

Each one of the gods imparted important lessons she could draw from and use in her life, but there was something about Tsukito that was different from the others. She loved them all, cherished their friendships, but that is all they were – friends. Granted, so was the Moon God, but he was different from the others – her feelings for him were deeper and more than what she felt for the others.

Of course, she also had a feeling that if she had fallen for one of the others then she might have a better chance at love. Tsukito was another level of dense never before experienced. Did that mean she would give up before she even tried? Looking up at the moon, she knew the answer to that. No.

"Kusanagi Yui," a soft voice spoke behind her.

Whipping her upper body around, Yui found out the identity of her intruder, although, with the way he addressed her, she should have known. "Tsukito-san," her voice was quiet and filled with awe, wonder, and surprise. Suddenly embarrassed, she rushed, "Ano, wh-what are you doing out here?"

He tilted his head to the side and responded, "I'm the Moon God. I always look at the moon, regardless if I am on Earth or at home, I always watch it." There was something about her, something about the way she was acting, that was off and he couldn't figure it out.

"Oh! Of…Of course you do!" She wasn't sure why she was expecting more from him.

"What are you doing here?"

Did she dare admit that she too was staring at the moon, looking for answers and courage? "I…I couldn't sleep, so I thought I would come out here to look at the sky."

His eyes drifted upwards, "The sky is clear tonight and the moon is bright. You can also see the stars from here."

A small smile toyed at her mouth as her gaze returned upwards, and her heart raced when he sat down next to her, "Wh-When I was small, I was told that if you see a falling star, you could make a wish on it. Of course, I was also told by someone else that you could also make a wish on the first start of the evening."

"Why?"

Her blush increased and she paused to search for an answer. It took a couple of minutes before she admitted, "I don't know. It is something old people tell the young. Maybe so we will always have faith and hope and believe in magic. Sometimes when I am at my saddest or something happens to me, I come out here and look at the stars and make a wish. Somehow I just feel better."

"Is there a certain spell or incantation you are supposed to recite?"

"No! No! Nothing like that!" She had turned her head and watched as he pulled out a paper and pencil in order to take notes. "Haven't you ever wished for something?"

"Why? I'm a god. I don't have to wish for anything. I have the moon."

"Um. Ano, Tsukito-san, it isn't about magic, it's about having dreams for the future."

"I'm immortal and my life was planned out for me the moment I was born in the waters of Yomi. I am the Moon God and that's it."

If she wanted to get through to him, to make him understand, she needed to approach it differently, "Tsukito-san, what did you feel when we were at the other school?"

"What do you mean?"

"When Balder-san was in trouble and we all had to rescue him, did you want to save him?"

"Hai."

"Did you hope we would be successful?"

"Hai," this time his answer was a little slower.

She had a feeling he was really considering what she was saying. "Did you say a prayer in your heart?"

"Hai."

"Why?"

"We needed to win or everything would be destroyed."

"Is that the only reason?"

"Balder had become a friend. So had the others."

"So you wanted to save everyone?"

"Hai. I did not want to fail in my task."

"That little prayer is like a wish."

"So people pray to the stars?"

"Not exactly, but it is like praying and then giving it to the universe to help with the problem or dream."

"What do people wish for?"

"Anything. Some people wish for love, others for someone's health. Some wish for more money, to win a lottery, or for a better job."

"You cannot get any of that without taking initiative."

"That's right, but it can be scary putting yourself out there, so you make a wish on a star and say a little prayer and it sometimes gives you courage."

"So people don't expect the gods to grant the wish, they are just saying a little prayer in order to hope or dream or get courage?"

"Hai. That is basically it."

Tsukito turned his eyes towards the girl sitting next to him and asked, "Have you ever made a wish on a star?"

Her cheeks turned even pinker and she nodded once, "Hai. When I was little I used to wish on every star I saw."

"And now? Do you still make wishes?"

She looked directly at the moon hanging high in the sky, and told him, "Hai. I still wish on shooting stars and on the first star of the evening."

"What do you wish for?" When they had been separated, he would hear her talking to the moon sometimes and wanted to answer her, but didn't know how. There was always something special about this girl, and he didn't know what it was. The only thing he knew, she never left his thoughts and he longed to see her again. The moment he was able to return with the other gods, he counted it as a blessing and dream come true. Maybe without his knowledge, he had wished upon a star as well.

Flustered, she had to force herself not to run away, "Huh? Um. Ano…I…you aren't supposed to tell others your wishes or they won't come true!" It wasn't the best answer, but it was something she had always been told.

"Why?"

She wasn't sure and had to think about it for a second, "Real wishes come from the heart and they are what you really desire. I was just always told that if you wish on a star, you aren't supposed to tell others what your wish is."

"Oh."

Silence descended between them, but eventually Tsukito said, "Kusanagi Yui, I missed you."

"I missed you too, Tsukito-san."

Nothing else was said between them, but the silence was comfortable, and they remained out there for another hour staring up at the moon and enjoying each other's company. Yui tried not to get her hopes up too far after his declaration, but her heart was soaring. Maybe, the moon and stars really did possess some magic.


	7. School

**A/N: I really wanted them to have a moment to themselves before school because everything is about to get a little crazy. Enjoy the new chapter!**

 **PS…** **My Twilight FF Meetings, Memories, and Destiny was nominated for top ten finished Twilight FF of August. If you would like to vote for me, I would greatly appreciate it. The link is www dot twifanfictionrecs dot com. You can vote once a day per device. THANK YOU! I know that this is a Kamigami no Asobi story, but since some of you read all genres and on top of that, I'm not below just asking for the votes. LOL. Thank you again!**

Chapter 7 – School

Saturday turned to Sunday and Yui spent most of that day convincing her friends the exchange students that were staying with her family were not totally and completely psycho. Of course the fact Takeru kept everyone hostage at sword point, followed by Loki feeding them dirt gum, didn't exactly help her defense; however, after much deliberation, Chikako and Akane agreed to still hang out with her as long as it they could meet anywhere except her house while she still had her special guests. Yui couldn't really blame her friends, though she did think they were overreacting ever so slightly, but then again, she couldn't really deny the sense of relief she felt knowing Chikako would no longer be flirting with Tsukito, nor would her friends be spreading odd rumors about the gods.

With her mission complete, she decided she could drop her guard a little and relax the rest of the day, spending quality time with her unearthly friends. She attempted to instruct them on how to behave in a human school in addition to describing the differences in her school versus their previous school, but Loki lit a smoke bomb behind Apollo, who jumped up and pouted. And then everyone started running around in a panic because smoke filled the room making sight and the ability to breathe a thing of the past. Yui wondered if she wished and prayed hard enough, if Zeus would please come and fetch her, take her away before school on Monday… No such luck.

Monday morning arrived bright and early and the first thing she saw upon opening her eyes, eight pairs of eyes – make that nine since there were pink beady eyes of a rabbit there as well – staring intently at her from above. A scream almost escaped her throat, but she somehow managed to swallow it for the most part, only a small squeak and gasp could be heard, "Wh-Wh-What are you doing in here?"

"Kusanagi Yui, you said we needed attending school early so that we could get registered and you could show us around," Tsukito stated.

Apollo was practically bouncing off the walls, "Fairy! How long are you going to sleep? We want to see your school!"

"Can you please leave so I can get dressed?" She asked politely, her face turning redder the longer they stood there.

It was as if they all just realized what they had done and each of the gods started to blush…except Loki, but before he could make a comment or pull some sort of prank, the others dragged him out of the room and slammed the door shut behind them.

Lying there as she listened to the shuffle of feet from the gods making their getaway, Yui ran a hand over her face and snickered a softly. Very little had changed with them and she took comfort in that, but now it was time to get up and face the day. This was not going to be fun, and it kind of felt like she was being graded on this...again. Maybe Zeus was watching everything for the enjoyment? Getting up, she glanced at the clock and noticed it was only about 30 minutes earlier than her normal time, and yet, she felt exhausted still, as if she could sleep another century and still not get enough sleep; which was not good considering she needed to stay on her toes to put out any fires her friends caused - literally and figuratively. How much trouble would they get in today? That was the million dollar question.

When she was ready, she dragged herself out of her room and joined the others in the dining room, where once again Tsukito had saved her a spot next to him. It was possible it considered it nothing more than a duty, and possibly his brother had made a suggestion. However it happened, she didn't care because the moment she saw that empty seat, her heart sped up a little and it made her fall for him even more. The others may have protested where she chose to sit (mainly Balder and Apollo), but she couldn't bring herself to care. It felt right to sit at the Moon God's side, to be next to him. And if the others didn't like it, then oh well, but she would never say that aloud.

If only the happy feeling would continue to last throughout the day...if only. Yui knew taking them to school with her would cause a disturbance. She just didn't expect the magnitude at which it happened.

Walking to school, the moment they crossed the threshold and stepped through the gates that officially put them on school property - actually about half a block before the school - other students stopped in their tracks and stared at the small entourage escorting the purple haired sword expert. Several even decided to follow the small group, and as the small group moved towards the main school building, the crowd around them grew. No one seemed to be able to hide their astonishment or surprise at seeing eight good looking men surrounding Yui. On one hand, she could understand their gaping, but on the other, she believed it was too extreme. Yes, the men with her were real gods who were beyond gorgeous and tended to stand out in a crowd of normal humans, each possessing some inherent quality that drew people towards them. Yui believed it was their godly nature. It was part of them, and even in the tabletop garden, their shackles had been unable to bind it completely. To tell them to turn it off...actually, she didn't think it was even a possibility. It was what it was.

The closer to the school, the bigger the crowd, and by the time they reached the five steps they needed to ascend to go inside, the crowd seemed louder and larger than that of a school assembly. The murmurs coming from the followers were almost deafening and people were asking questions such as, Who are they? Why are they with Kusanagi-senpai? Are they going to be students here?" All of the attention focused on her and the men, made Yui feel like she was under a microscope.

"A-Ano, are you n-new students here?" One timid girl questioned stepping forward.

"We are! Fairy…um, I mean we live with Yui-san!" Apollo announced loudly.

"Eh?!" Yui looked horrified as all eyes turned to her, burning holes into her being. Quickly, she tried to correct the misunderstanding, "NO! NO! NO! He means my family is hosting them while they stay here. They're exchange students!" As soon as she made her own proclamation, a few of the murderous glints that appeared in some of the girls' eyes disappeared. Only these men could bring this kind of hostility out in girls they had never met.

One of the more bold girls stepped forward and thrust her long pink hair behind her back, "Well, if that's the case, you are more than welcome to come stay at my family's mansion. I'm sure the accommodations will be much better and more to your liking than a small temple."

Tsukito tilted his head and said simply, "A temple is perfect for us. We can commune with our surroundings." The other gods quickly agreed with him.

"But it can't be very comfortable. At my house, all of your needs would be seen to. You will be pampered like princes."

"Aniki already told you, we don't need it and we are staying at the temple where we belong!" Takeru growled. It took effort to keep a cool head. Here, his powers were not shackled or hinders, and if he wanted to, he could wreak havoc on the school...any of the gods could.

Before anything else could be said or done, another girl stepped forward and snidely retorted, "I believe Yui-senpai and her friends already gave you their answer. Now back off, Haruko!" She had shoulder length blonde hair and a menacing air surrounding her.

"Michi, I should have known you would stick your nose in where it doesn't belong. Still a Yankee at heart. Just remember, if you lay a finger on me, you'll regret it," the pink haired Haruko declared snootily. Her family was rich and she liked to think she ruled the school.

Michi smirked, "I may still be a Yankee at heart, but at least I'm not a spoiled princess who likes to throw herself at men in an effort to seduce them. Want to know what that makes you?"

Gasping, Haruko opened her mouth to speak and nothing came out. Open and close and open again...finally, she managed to shriek, "You're just jealous of my family, my beauty, and my money."

"Who would be jealous of you? Now I suggest you get out of Yui-senpai's way and let her in the school."

Haruko glared at her opponent, "This isn't over!" Stomping her foot, she marched away from the crowd and allowed Yui and her friends to enter.

"Thank you, Michi-san," Yui smiled at her friend.

"No problem. That girl needs to learn a lesson or two. Besides, it's fun to see how fast I can make her throw a temper tantrum."

"Don't cause trouble."

"I would never."

"Yes, you would. If you don't want to get kicked out of school, leave her alone."

"Fine!" Her eyes fell upon the small group of good-looking men with her friend, "Who're they?"

Yui told her, "Exchange students who are staying with my family. I need to take them to the office to report in."

"Go for it, but I expect a better introduction than that later," Michi smirked.

Nodding, the purple haired girl opened the front door and entered the school. It would take another thirty minutes before they would actually reach the office because people crowded the hallway trying to catch a glimpse of the new students. And when they finally made it to class, the sensei was unable to teach morning lessons due to the buzz surrounding the new eligible men that sat amongst the students.

Yui's eyes would drift to each god in turn, finally settling on Tsukito. Much like he did before, his hand furiously moved as he tried to write down everything their instructor said word for word even if it wasn't part of the planned lesson. It reminded her of their group study sessions at the other school, and part of her longed to return there again.

Everyone wanted to know these men. Boys wanted to hang around them to attract the girls, or beat them up because they were competition, and girls wanted to flirt with them. And Yui found herself happy for their return and irritated at the same time because once again she had to supervise them, teaching them human ways, as well as watch, her jealousy increasing every time someone tried to talk to Tsukito. She felt doomed and hopelessly lost, and the worst part was, this was only the morning of their first day. They had a long way to go before they reached the end of their journey.


	8. Conflict

**A/N: I apologize for the sporadic updating on this story and my others. There were things beyond my control happening in my life over the last couple of months. I will endeavor to do better, however, between now and the end of the year, it may still be sporadic. I apologize now for that. I lost a friend to cancer and my niece is about to have a baby. Happy and sad at the same time. Thank you for your understanding. Enjoy the new chapter! Next chapter, you will get a glimpse into Tsukito's thoughts and feelings.**

Chapter 8 – Conflict

Maybe…just maybe, this was all a horrific nightmare and Yui was still in bed with her head lying on her pillow because it would explain how everything seemed to be falling apart around her. The building might still be standing, but that did not mean the structure was not about to crumble around them. Hey! One could hope something like that would happen. It might be her only saving grace at this point.

From the moment she had shown up at school that morning with an escort of gorgeous men surrounding her, Yui felt as if a target had been painted on her back. Eyes were boring into her person, and if looks could kill, she would be probably be buried six feet under or at least writhing in pain on the ground. Jealousy seeped from the girls pores surrounding them in a dark aura as if they had been possessed by a specter. If Yui were to ask why, she would just be playing dumb since she understood the impression these men made when first meeting them – it wasn't until after meeting them and talking to them for even a small amount of time that one discovered their flaws. And she didn't have a problem with those, to her, it made them seem more humanlike than supernatural.

Still, these were teenage girls and they (for the most part) were boy crazy. Even her closest friends had tried to flirt and obtain new boyfriends. Of course that plan backfired on them and went down faster than the Hindenburg thanks to Loki and Takeru; and though she might not say it aloud, she had never been more appreciative of their peculiar personalities as she had been on Saturday. Thus, in their eyes, Yui was the enemy because the new handsome exchange students were staying with her at her family's temple and she had the pleasure of their company inside and outside of school. It was not fair.

As the morning lessons (or what lessons the sensei managed to teach) wrapped up, the bell for lunch rang. The class as a whole stood and bowed to their instructor, and after he left, the world started to come to an end – well, maybe not exactly come to an end.

Falling into her seat, Yui sighed and took out her bento and was instantly surrounded by her otherworldly friends, and she could feel the glares intensify….even from the other boys in class. They were jealous about the attention the girls were giving to the strangers, and the girls were jealous the strangers were focusing on Yui. As much as it might hurt her friends' feelings, there was only really one of the men that she wanted to focus on her; however, when he did, she always questioned if it was because he wanted to or because he felt it was his duty.

"Fairy, aren't we going to the banquet hall?" Apollo asked, a huge smile lighting up his face.

She hadn't planned on going to the cafeteria, and had actually thought about eating lunch at her desk like she did many times before, her friends sitting around her as they talked about anything and everything happening in their lives and the lives of others. But now that the blond had said something, Yui noticed Chikako and Akane were keeping their distance from her today, probably a direct result of what happened on Saturday, and she couldn't bring herself to tell her friends to stay away from her during the lunch period. They were depending on her to instruct them and show them the ways of humans, to show them even more than before, the human heart and the emotions that went along with it. Her eyes drifted towards Tsukito, and she found him staring at her intently with a blank expression on his face. Sighing again, she nodded, "Hai. Let's go to the cafeteria." In her mind, she thought, _"_ _The cafeteria. The place with even more students who will probably feel like killing me."_ And as they were leaving, Yui could hear the mumbles coming from the other students in her classroom, accusing her of monopolizing the new students every minute.

Walking down the hall with her friends, students gaped and gawked at her and her escorts and it felt like she was put back under the microscope, "A-Ano. Did all of you remember to bring your bento my okaa-san made?" All eight heads bobbed up and down. "Then let's eat out in the courtyard." Yes, people may still stare, but at least it wouldn't feel so enclosed.

They never made it. Mere feet from the door that would allow them to bask in sunshine, their path was blocked by a mop of pink hair. Giggling, Haruko gave them a snide smile, "I have prepared a luxurious lunch for all of you. You will eat like gods!"

Yui almost face palmed, but she held back because she was too afraid of what her friends would say to that challenge.

Laughing, Loki lifted a brow and inquired, "And you know how gods eat?"

"Ah, um, Loki-san, it's just an expression. Let's go eat," the purple haired girl quickly stated and grabbed Tsukito by the arm and started to pull him around Haruko towards the doors, hoping the others would get a clue and follow, but again, their path was blocked.

"Kusanagi-san, you are more than welcome to leave. You weren't invited anyway," the tormenter snickered and snapped her fingers. The big bodyguards she had blocking her targets parted to allow Yui room to leave.

Normally, Yui believed she was a peaceful person and well-liked by her fellow classmates – of course that was before the appearance of the gods – but even she could feel her anger and irritation rising.

Takeru narrowed his eyes and said, "Do you consider yourself a goddess?"

Haruko gave a small flip of her log pink locks and smiled, "Of course I am. I'm the richest girl at this school and I can give you anything you want."

"That's not your money, that's your father's. As for what we want, if that's true, then move. You're blocking our way."

"Excuse me?!" Never before had Haruko been so offended.

Laughing, Loki spoke up, "He said you're a nuisance and in our way. Last I checked, you weren't invited to our lunch and you aren't a goddess." He paused and snapped his fingers, "Oh! Unless you're Hel." His eyes swept over her body and finally he shrugged, "Yeah, you could be her."

"Loki-Loki!" Apollo chastised believing his friend took it too far.

"Loki, that was mean," Balder shook his head in disappointment and he turned to Thor to agree with him.

The God of Thunder said nothing and just stared at the pink haired problem in front of them.

Haruko wasn't sure who this Hel person was, but she had a feeling the redhead just insulted her. Before she could respond though, another one of the boys with Yui spoke up.

Takeru wasn't sure who Loki was referring to, but he knew it was bad and asked with a smile, "Who's Hel?"

The redhead started to laugh and Thor believed it was his duty to explain because he knew Balder would not, "She is the ruler of Helheim, the realm of the dead. She is a hag who looks half human and half corpse."

Sucking in her breath, Haruko lifted her hand to slap Loki, however, Balder stepped in front of him and instead of making contact with him, she tripped and pushed Yui when she tried to regain her balance. The purple haired girl started to fall, but Tsukito caught her before she could fall and their lips connected – much to the horror of the other gods and the students surrounding them. Both Yui and Tsukito had been holding their bentos and those went flying into the air, landing on two other students in the crowd surrounding the small group.

"This is all my fault," Hades muttered.

Yui pulled back quickly, her face bright red with her blush, "Uh, thank you for catching me, Tsukito-san." She wasn't sure how to react or what to say. Her first kiss happened with the guy she liked, but it had been a total accident.

Taking in a deep breath, Haruko had to remind herself that she was a lady and therefore, she would not allow these people to make a mockery of her, "Be careful who you become friends with. It could have dire consequences for you and your time in this school. You don't want to hang around the wrong people."

"You know, I was on my way to the math prep room to get some tutoring help from sensei, and I noticed a lot of hot air coming from this direction," Michi snarled as she appeared in front of the small group. "Now, if I'm not mistaken, these people told you to get lost and to leave them alone."

"They did not!" The pink haired girl argued.

"I paraphrased. I'm sure I got the gist of it. Right?" Michi turned to the closest person in the group and asked.

Takeru found himself somewhat impressed with this girl and nodded, "You got the gist of it correct."

She turned back towards Haruko and grinned, "See. Now leave them alone. You're making them waste their lunch period arguing with you."

"I don't have to listen to a Yankee like you. Get out of my way!" Haruko tried to push Michi out of her way, but before she could lay a finger on the blonde, Michi moved out of her way and she wound up pushing Loki instead. Loki reacted and pushed the spoiled princess away. She hit a pedestal with a bust, which went crashing to the ground and shattered. Seeing a teacher coming their way out of the corner of her eye, Haruko dropped to the ground and started crying, tears falling from her eyes.

"How fake is that?" Loki's mocking tone could not be heard above the loud buzz among the other students.

"What is the meaning of this?" The sensei demanded.

Raising her finger, Haruko pointed it at Michi and then at Yui, "This is all their fault, Tanaka-sensei!"

Apollo, Loki, Thor, Balder, and Takeru were all quick to defend their friend with the others nodding in agreement, "That's not true!"

"Sensei, I hit my head," Haruko cried.

"Haruko-san, to the infirmary. The rest of you, to the office," Tanaka-sensei ordered.

Before they made it a foot, an explosion that could be heard throughout the school went off. Everyone in the area (except Balder and Loki) and the area itself, were covered in red powder. Loki had struck again.

It wasn't even the end of the first day of school and already they had made an enemy, Yui had lost her first kiss, and Loki was trying to destroy the building. Yuki wasn't going to ask if it could get any worse because she had a feeling the moment she uttered those words, the Earth would implode.

In the end, the principal ruled everything an accident, but he still forced the new students and Yui to perform extra cleaning duties while Haruko got off scot-free, and Michi wound up with a month of detention. If today was any indication, life at school was going to keep Yui on her toes until the gods' time on Earth ended, and just thinking about their time ending, caused an ache to settle around her heart. She never wanted to say goodbye to any of them again, but having to bid farewell to Tsukito, Yui wasn't sure she could ever do that again.


	9. Defend

**A/N: I hope everyone is having a wonderful weekend. It appears Yui and the gods have a problem child on their hands. Will this be too much for them to handle? What about Yui and Tsukito? Enjoy the new chapter!**

Chapter 9 – Defend

The gods' first week of school had finally ended and there were times it seemed as if it would never arrive, especially for Yui. A whole school week had passed since she had lost her first kiss – not to mention the other stuff that happened as well - and she could still feel the press of his soft lips to hers. No, it wasn't a real kiss, but the way Tsukito tended to be, this might be all she would ever get. Maybe she just needed to count her blessings, savor what she had received, and move on. And yet, that was the last thing she wanted to do.

If she really allowed herself to think about it, Yui should have fallen for someone else. Apollo and Balder were more than interested in her – she would have to be living under a rock not to see that – and they were sweet. They catered to her needs, tried to make sure she was safe and happy, and were willing to do almost anything for her, but they weren't who she wanted, who she thought about, dreamed about. That role belonged to the one god who seemed the most oblivious, and who only thought about his duty as a god or student.

Tsukito was probably the hardest working god she knew. Well into the night, he would review the notes he had taken that day while furiously scribbling everything the sensei said word for word; and while he may not understand everything, he always seemed to do everything he could, which was always more than a normal human. In fact, Takeru and Yui were both worried that he may be pushing himself too hard once again, and remembered all too well what happened at their other school when he did that. It was something that did not need an encore performance.

And so, they both watched him closely, an unspoken pact between them. Takeru because he was worried about his brother, and Yui because she was worried about her friend and the man she had feelings for.

No, not man…he was a god; and because he was a god, they were never supposed to be together. Shaking her head in an attempt to get rid of her melancholy thoughts, she followed her friends home from school. It had been another monstrous day dealing with Haruko and her almost idiotic attempts to throw herself at the men surrounding Yui. After the first day and the way she had been treated by Takeru and Loki, one would think she would give up, but she hadn't.

If anything, the pink haired teen had gotten even more tenacious, and Yui was exhausted. On Tuesday, she had been locked in the dojo sometime during her afterschool practice and she couldn't get out. At first Yui thought it had been a mistake – although, not sure how – but when Haruko asked, "Is the dojo scary at night," Yui knew the truth. On Wednesday, the purple haired teen had received a note from the office right before lunch, and thus she told her friends to go onto lunch without her and she would meet them, however, when she arrived at the office, none of the teachers had called her. It had been a phony summons. When she got back to the classroom, her friends had been taken and according to one student, Haruko said something like, "Don't worry about Yui. She and I have decided to make peace and she'll join us." Balder and Apollo pushed the others out the door in anticipation of witnessing the peace treaty that would never come. Wednesday afternoon, after Yui returned to the classroom after PE so that she could change, she found her clothes soaking in a bucket of soapy water forcing her to wear her PE jersey the rest of the day. On Thursday, Yui thought she was better prepared for anything Haruko would throw at her, but alas her efforts proved futile. She arrived that morning and on her desk lay decaying food and garbage. Switching classrooms for music, she came back to grab her bento for lunch and found it missing.

And that afternoon, she tried to talk to her tormentor and got in trouble – afternoon detention – because the pink haired girl fell to the ground holding her cheek, a red mark there, claiming Yui slapped her. As much as the purple haired girl wanted to slap her, she hadn't.

Would her torture end now? No. Even this Friday morning turned out to be horrible. Waking up, the sky was overcast and the moment she and the gods stepped foot outside the shrine, it had started to rain. Thankfully there were enough umbrellas to go around and they were protected… at least a little. As they got closer to the school, her eyes darted from side to side looking for pink hair. Yui was on her guard and would remain so. She and her friends entered the classroom and immediately all eyes were on them. She couldn't understand why until one student pointed towards the blackboard. Drawn in marker – not chalk that could be erased, but marker that would stay – was a picture of the teacher as a demon and Yui's name appeared as the artist. Surely no one would believe she had done that. Right? However, the moment sensei walked in, he was furious at her. "I didn't do this. I got here after it had been done!" She defended herself.

"But you could have come this morning!" Sensei argued in front of the principal, where he had taken her the moment he saw that.

"I didn't! It was Haruko Mizushima!"

"Accusing an excellent student like that… how low, Kusanagi-san."

"I'm a good student too! She has been behind everything this week!"

"Do you have proof?"

And that was her dilemma: there was no proof of anything. Haruko had enough money and clout that people would probably do things for her, therefore, she kept her hands clean. "No," Yui mumbled.

"She didn't do it!" Eight men burst into the principal's office and exclaimed.

Apollo spoke up, "She couldn't have. We left the shrine together and it was raining, so it took us longer to get here."

"She could have snuck out during the night," the sensei snidely remarked.

The principal rolled his eyes. He knew Haruko wasn't as innocent as she claimed to be, but with her being the daughter of a wealthy family, he had to tread lightly; however, even he had to admit that this was getting ridiculous, "Snuck out and broke into a locked school, with a closed gate, and a security guard on patrol?"

"Well…uh…ano…It could have been done!"

"Not likely." He looked from his teacher to his student to the boys who stormed in to defend her. In his mind, she was innocent. "Kusanagi-san is in the top three of her grade, helps out in student council, helps the kendo team when they need it, and competes for us in iaido. Her grades and ranking exceed Mizushima's by leaps bounds. What makes you think that Kusanagi-san is the guilty party?"

"What makes me think…? Her name was…"

Before the sensei could continue, the principal shook his head and held up his hand, "Anyone can sign a name to something. Do you have proof?" Normally, he wouldn't second guess his teachers, but this was an important matter because the accusation was so severe. This could very well affect a good student's academic career. "We have eight witnesses who say it was not Kusanagi-san, and I will also say that this…infraction does not match the student I see before me." His gaze settled on Yui, "You said she was behind everything all week. What do you mean?" Suddenly the eight male students who had burst forth started talking at once, some more animated than others, and he could have sworn one of them muttered, "I've brought misfortune to her." The principal wasn't sure what he meant by that, so he decided to ignore him for now. Holding up his hands again, he gave everyone a pointed look, "I asked Kusanagi-san."

Yui cleared her throat and began to tell the principal everything that had happened over the course of the week, leaving nothing out, and when she was done, she waited for the principal to say something. She could see her friends were chomping at the bit to defend her, but she really hoped they remained silent for now.

"I see." He wasn't exactly sure what he had been expecting, but this was not it, and to hear that Yui had even had to serve a day in detention…although, even he had to admit if he would have come across that scene, he would have punished Yui as well. The proof would have been stacked against her. "So someone has been bullying you, and you believe it was Haruko since she has made it more than clear that she wanted to…to host the exchange students."

"Hai!"

His eyes darted to the teacher, "What have you done to find the bully?"

"I…well…I…eto…I didn't realize this was a problem," he stammered.

"She sat in your class in her gym clothes and you didn't question it? Didn't question anything about what happened to her desk."

"Ano, I cleaned up the mess before sensei arrived," Yui rushed to defend her instructor. "As for the gym clothes, I informed sensei that mine got wet and were unwearable when I tripped and they fell in the sink."

It made him feel more embarrassed that the very student he was accusing was trying to help him, "If I remember correctly, she wasn't the only student wearing their gym clothes."

"Balder-san had to as well. He tripped while carrying the bucket of water and drenched himself."

"Do you have any witnesses who saw your clothes in the bucket?"

"Hai! My friends Chikako and Akane were with me when we found the bucket. When I went to the bathroom to wring out my clothes, Balder-san took the bucket from me since it was heavy and tripped."

His fingers rubbed his chin, and finally the principal said, "I will be talking to your friends and Michi as well. As for Mizushima-san, I would recommend both of you stay away from each other. I will be telling her the same thing. Do you understand?"

Stay away from her? Yui wanted to scream that she tried, and time and time again, Haruko sought her out, but instead she bowed and answered, "Hai. Arigato."

"Now all of you return to class. Ono-sensei, can you please wait a moment?" Once the students were out of the room, he informed his instructor, "Starting next week, we will have a new teacher who is part of an exchange program."

"New…all of these exchange people. Why so many now?"

"I don't know. I would like you to help show him the ropes."

"Hai!" Ono-sensei bowed and walked out of the office.

The rest of the day seemed to pass by more smoothly, but Yui could not help but feel the burn of Haruko's eyes on her, fuming because she had been called to the principal's office and had not won. Now as she and the gods walked home together, her thoughts kept flitting to Tsukito. Did he think about the kiss at all?

In the next moment, she realized she should have been paying attention to where she was walking because she tripped over a crack in the sidewalk and would have hit the ground had someone not caught her. She expected to look up and see Balder, Takeru, Apollo, Dionysus, or Thor, but her eyes locked onto the golden eyes of Tsukito. "Ar…Arigato, Tsukito-san," she breathed, her cheeks turning red with her blush.

"Are you all right, Kusanagi Yui?"

"H-Hai."

Lifting her carefully, he helped her to her feet and waited until she was steady before he released her. "Be careful. The sidewalk is uneven in places. It is easy to hurt yourself." With that said, he started to walk again.

The others in their group were stunned into silence, but that only lasted a moment before Apollo and Balder were screaming, Dionysus was toasting her with wine, and Takeru was going after his brother. Yui could see and hear the bedlam around her, and yet, it felt as if it was happening in the distance. Everything was muffled. Tsukito had just rescued her.

Later that night, Tsukito sat in the grass and looked up at the moon. It was bright, clear, and the twinkling of stars surrounded it giving it an even more heavenly appearance. His hands furled and unfurled, remembering the feel of Yui in his arms. Even his lips could remember what it felt like to press against her mouth…and he wanted it to happen again. He wasn't as oblivious as he once was, but then again, he wasn't exactly sure what this was. The only thing he knew, something had happened to him in that garden and he had not been able to forget her. In a way, he longed to see her again. He missed her. And now that she was with him once again, he didn't want to part from her again. Why? Because they were friends? He considered the other gods his friends and didn't feel the same way about them. This was different. Weird. And it was making him feel odd. It was a feeling he didn't exactly dislike, but he didn't like the confusion it brought.

In addition, when Yui was being bullied by the pink haired student this week, Tsukito had the urge to defend her, to protect her. Why?

Looking up at the moon again, he sighed. So many times he had heard her words as she spoke to him, and listening to her made his desire to see her almost overwhelming. She was a good friend, however, his feelings for her surpassed those of the other gods and maybe even his brother and his duty…and he didn't understand how that could be. He was confused, but at the same time, he didn't want to be apart from her ever again.


	10. Matchmaker

**A/N: Happy Veteran's Day. Thank you to everyone that has served past and present. I know this chapter is a bit of a filler, but I'm using it to set something up and I just wanted to write another small moment between Tsukito and Yui. Enjoy the new chapter!**

Chapter 10 – Matchmaker

Takeru watched his brother sneak out into the night air, and he knew he was seeking answers. Tsukito had always been the mature one who put duty above all else, and yet, he was also the one that helped watch over Takeru when he needed someone. For that, the blue haired god was grateful beyond measure. This was his favorite brother, one he felt he owed his life to; so for that, he would make sure the Moon God's greatest desire was fulfilled – even if the purple haired man was not aware of what he really wanted.

Looking around the room, hearing the quiet snores from the other gods, Takeru knew that he had to be careful with his plans. More than one of them wanted Yui for himself, but she was made for Tsukito. Yes, there would be problems because she was human and his brother was god, however, nothing was impossible. And besides, there was that saying, "Better to have love and lost than never to have loved at all." Even if they couldn't be together for all eternity, isn't it better to have a short period of time together than to have nothing at all?

As quietly as he could, the blue haired god followed his brother out of the room and found him staring up at the night sky as he always did at home. Tsukito would probably say it was his duty to watch the moon, but this time, Takeru felt like his brother was seeking answers that would not come so readily to him. How was he supposed to match the two students up when one of them seemed so oblivious and didn't completely understand feelings? Sure Tsukito understood a little bit, otherwise his limiter would not have been broken, but that did not mean he completely understood anything beyond that. If Takeru told Tsukito to woo Yui, he would do it because he would look at it as if it was task or duty, much like he did when they had been joined together with the rings. It wasn't what the girl in question would want, and it would probably hurt her feelings. No, his brother had to come to his own conclusions.

That being said, how was Takeru supposed to get them together and keep the other gods away? Now that was a conundrum that made his head spin. At the very least Balder and Apollo wanted Yui for themselves, but he suspected Loki, Hades, and Dionysus also wanted her…at least a little. He could team up with someone, however, he didn't know who would help him. Dionysus would help Apollo or himself, as would Hades. Loki and Thor would help Balder, even if Loki did want her for himself…and quite honestly, even the thought of requesting Loki's help gave Takeru the chills. He was by himself in this quest. Then again, would the other gods change their minds and let her go if they knew she had feelings for Tsukito? Not likely. Where did that leave him? Alone in his plotting.

And then the image of a certain Yankee girl popped into his head and he face palmed. Michi? Really? While she was Yui's friend, she seemed like a lot of trouble. She also may have been cute and he may have thought about her more than once, he could not see him asking a stranger for help. His luck, she would rat him out and do everything in her power to keep his brother and their mutual friend separate. Then again, a common enemy sometimes had the power to unite two people. Did he dare ask? Could he trust her to help him? He just didn't know, but the more he thought about it, the more appealing working with her sounded.

He almost jumped when he heard what sounded like a door sliding open and hid in the shadows, and then Takeru got the shock of his life.

Yui couldn't sleep. As exhausting and irritating as the week was, when she lay her head down on her pillow, she felt as if she drank a case of monster and was wide awake.

The moon was high in the sky and it filled her room with light. Would it help her relax? Give her answers to her many questions? It seemed as if it had become routine for her to stare up at the glowing orb, to talk to it every night. Maybe tonight, it would again give her some of the solace she sought.

Walking out of her room, she quietly gasped. She had not been expecting to find anyone sitting outside at this time of night, but this again, the person sitting there and gazing fondly at the moon was none other than the moon god. Could he not sleep either?

Just seeing him sitting there, his purple hair ruffling in the gentle breeze, tugged at her heart and brought a smile to her lips. This was the man she had fallen for long ago…or was it just a short period of time since the moon viewing? When they had been forced together, she learned a lot about this quiet god. He was hard working, always wanted to do a good job, hated disappointing people, and could not say no to anything asked of him, even if it put his own health at risk. This was who he was, and it was part of the reason she liked him. His gaze was steadfast and strong, but deep inside him, she found a boy afraid of hurting the people around him for any reason. He was a person who seemed to take longer than the others to understand simple things, and he took many things literally, but he was a good guy with a kind heart. If he didn't, then Takeru would have been completely alone after the accident with the goddess. His actions spoke volumes…and this was one of the things she noticed first about him. It drew her in.

"Tsukito-san?" Her voice was soft and floated towards him on the wind.

A gentle smile lifted his lips at hearing this particular voice, and he wasn't sure why, but he liked it. He didn't turn around or question her, he only said, "The moon is bright tonight."

Her smile grew, "It is. It lit up my room."

He turned around and watched as she approached him, "Did it wake you?"

"Hnn, I couldn't sleep and thought I would come out here and…and…pray," her excuse was flimsy, but she somehow knew that he would accept it.

Nodding, he told her, "I understand. I will leave you alone." He started to get up, but she stopped him. "Nani?"

"I said, you can stay if you want. Ano…I know as the Moon God you like to watch the moon as well. You can stay if you want." She was desperate to keep him there a little longer. She may have been coward because she could not bring herself to ask him about his feelings or if he thought about the forced kiss they shared, however, she wanted to spend more time with him without the others with them.

"If you don't mind, then I will stay Kusanagi Yui," he responded and returned his gaze to the glowing moon in the sky.

Takeru watched the exchange from the shadows and grinned. It appeared his brother was starting to realize his feelings for the girl. This was progress; however, if the blue haired god allowed it everything to continue at their own pace, Tsukito and Yui may never admit their feelings. No, as his brother, Takeru needed to give both of them a little nudge. They both deserved happiness after all, and the Sea God would play matchmaker.


	11. Recruiting

**A/N: Merry Christmas, Happy Holidays. No matter what you celebrate around the world, I wish you a blessed holiday season; and if you don't celebrate, I still hope you are safe, happy, and blessed. Sorry for staying away from this story for so long. NaNoWriMo kicked my butt this year and I am slowly getting back into my old rhythm. Unfortunately, I probably won't be back to regular updates until after the New Year. Enjoy the new chapter and let the plotting begin!**

Chapter 11 – Sword Play

Takeru got up early, as he usually did for his run, but instead of running around the block and such, he grabbed his school uniform and school bag and took off. Yui had tried to ask him where he was going, and he only paid her enough attention to yell, "School." He didn't have time to explain anything, and she was the wrong person to talk to since his whole idea revolved around her and his brother; however, he had the distinct impression that if he didn't tell her his destination, she would plague Tsukito with questions…she still might.

He couldn't worry about that now though. He had to find Michi. After thinking about the lack of options available to him, he decided recruiting her was the best solution to his problem. If she wouldn't help him, he would figure out a plan "b" if he needed to, but he really hoped that he didn't need to. Seeking help from any of the other gods was sure to blow up in his face, and trying to convince Yui's brother's to help, he was afraid they might murder him. Michi though…Takeru was convinced that if Michi wanted to get physical with him, he would be able to hold his own with her and he wouldn't have to lay a single finger on her to do it. Some may have called him cocky, however, he liked to think of himself as confident.

About an hour later, he believed he should have thought his plan through a little more.

There was one gate allowing access to the school grounds, and he waited just inside for Michi's arrival. Being a delinquent, he wasn't sure if she would show up on time, late, or at all, and waiting there was a risk because Yui and the other gods would see him waiting and begin interrogating him…. It was a risk he had to take; and when he noticed his friends entering, he ducked behind a large group of students who were gathered together and gossiping. They blocked his presence, and ten minutes later Michi strolled in looking irritated and bored to tears, and the day had yet to truly begin.

It was now or never. Calling out to her, he waved to her trying to get her attention, "Michi-san."

Stopping in her tracks, she slowly turned her glaring gaze in Takeru's direction wanting to know who dare called her by her first name without permission, and when she recognized him, she pulled back ever so slightly on her murderous intent, "What do you want?"

He wasn't sure why, but a chill went down his spine and he was slightly afraid. She was nothing more than a human girl and she could invoke that kind of reaction…he respected her a little more than he had just a moment ago, "Just to talk."

Her arms crossed over her chest and she told him, "So talk."

Looking around at the interested stares of others, he asked, "Can we go somewhere else?"

"Eh? Sure. Why not?" She shrugged and started walking off towards the back of the building, knowing as soon as they were out of ear shot, the gossips of the school would begin to spread any number of rumors about her and one of the exchange students – and she wasn't sure how she felt about that. Takeru seemed different than the others bunking at Yui's house, but then again, they all seemed different from any other student at their school, and it was more than their exchange status. This blue haired boy and his purple haired brother were both Japanese, and yet, their aura and countenance seemed to match that of an era long gone. They were just different and she couldn't explain why that was so.

She wouldn't be able to stop the rumors though. Regardless of where they ended up for their talk, the other students would say what they wanted and by this afternoon it was possible the student body would believe she was having his baby in nine months. Crazier rumors had been spread about, and her being a former Yankee did not help her reputation…it certainly wouldn't help his. Did he realize what kind of danger he was putting himself into?

When they arrived at the spot behind the school, the very one where students for generations had used to confess their feelings to the one they liked – why had she not taken him somewhere else? – she spun around and demanded, "We're here. Talk."

His eyes darted from place to place and almost immediately landed on her. She was prettier than he remembered from the week before. Her cheeks held a tinge of a blush, her lips were almost heart shaped and dark pink, and her eyes were sharp, as if they could and did catch anything and everything that went on around her. Why did he suddenly feel embarrassed? No! This was not him! He was confident in himself and certain of his abilities as a god and a man; and he would not allow this girl to throw him off. Clearing his throat, he said, "I wanted to ask you for your help."

"My help," she scoffed. Her eyes rolled high into her head and landed on him again, "No, thank you."

"But…"

"Look. I don't know you or your friends. I only know that you are staying with Yui-senpai, but that's it. For all I know, you could be harboring intentions to hurt her…" Pulling out something from her skirt pocket, she closed the distance between them quickly and held a knife blade to his neck, "And if you hurt her, I'll hunt you down and kill you." She was sure that this guy was actually okay, otherwise, Yui wouldn't have allowed him and the others to stay with her family at the shrine; however, after the awful morning she'd had, she really didn't want to bother with inconsequential things…even if they did come from a cute guy whose very eyes seemed to call out to her. NO! She would not succumb.

Pushing her hand aside, he smirked, "I can understand, but I have no intention of hurting weed."

"Weed?"

"Uh…well…"

"Just spit out what you want to say!"

"We…I mean Yui-san…" He could see he was losing her and she appeared antsy to leave, "I want your help bring weed and my brother together!" His heavy breathing filled the air and he took a small amount of pride at the fact he had just shocked her, if her facial expression was anything to go on.

Whatever she had been expecting, it had not been that. "Excuse me," asked Michi after she blinked and attempted to process the odd request, which only left her more confused.

"I want to bring my brother together with Yui-san…romantically," he added the last word in case there was still some confusion.

"Didn't they just meet or something? Why do you need my help?"

"We've actually known her for months, but I need your help because the other go...I mean there are others interested in her. If I ask them for help, they will only sabotage my plans, and that's only if they will agree to help."

She was a little curious as to what he was about to say, but let it go for now, "And so you need my help? Yui-senpai has other friends. What about Akane-senpai and Chikako-senpai?"

"We didn't exactly make the best first impression on them. They won't help." Why was he explaining himself to her? He was the Sea God of Japan!

"So you only have me?" She crossed her arms again and looked slightly smug. "I'll tell you what…I'll help you if you can beat me in a kendo match."

A smirk appeared on his face, "No problem." If she was anything like Yui, this would be an easy win, and just to show that he was a nice guy, he would go a little easy on her. She was a girl after all.

At lunch that day, Michi – much to the surprise of the other gods and Yui – picked Takeru up at the classroom and took him down to the kendo dojo. The others tried to follow, but the Sea God and former Yankee gave them both the slip…adding more fuel to the rumor fire. They didn't care though. They had a match to get to.

Going easy on Michi was one of the worst mistakes Takeru had ever concocted. Unlike Yui, Michi was more aggressive, had stronger wrists, and a lot more stamina. If he wanted to win, he would need to go all out. It would be a best of three point match, and much to his amazement, she had scored first. It was then he decided he needed to go all out on her otherwise he would lose; and unlike his first match with Yui, he had read up and done some studying on kendo, so he was better prepared.

"Did you really think it would be an easy win because I was a girl? I used to run with one of the toughest girl gangs around here!" She called out mockingly.

He refused to admit that had been exactly what he had done and growled, "All I see is a competitor right now. Gender has nothing to do with it! I was just getting a feel for your skills!" He swung at her head, but the attack was blocked by Michi's own shinai.

She could feel laughter and something else bubbling within her. It had been a while since she had had this much fun in a match, and this one wasn't actually an official match. It had been Yui that had gotten her involved with the kendo club when she was trying to make the decision to leave the gang or stick with it, and she didn't regret her decision. She had been beat up and knocked unconscious when she left, but it had been worth it…sort of. Once she was free, she no longer felt torn between who she was and who she wanted to be. Her future was her own. "Ha!" She scoffed as she swung at his arm, however, he jumped and dodged just in the nick of time. This boy was skilled, but that didn't mean he was as skilled as she was.

Dodging her attack, he swung his shinai to the side and caught her in the abdomen. His point. It was now tied one to one. All he needed was one more point and she would agree to help him.

He attacked, she countered. She swung, he blocked. It felt like they were locked in a never ending dance. The third point would not come easy to either one of them, but then Takeru lost his footing momentarily just as she launched her knew attack and caught him in the shoulder.

"No point!" Their referee, the kendo club teacher, announced. "It hit the shoulder." He glanced briefly at his watch and called, "The match is a draw."

"Eh?" Both Michi and Takeru exclaimed.

"You have ten minutes to take your showers and get to class. If you want to finish, come to kendo practice after school." With what he had seen, he wanted the exchange student on his boys' team for as long as the school had him registered.

"Fine!" They both growled and stomped towards the locker rooms.

The team captains for both the boys' and girls' team were the other two referees, and the boys' asked, "Will they kill each other during the match, or before they can continue?"

"Bamboo swords can hurt, but they won't kill," sensei teased and started walking towards the dojo's exit. "Just make sure all kendo gear stays here when they leave."

Michi was waiting on Takeru when he walked out of the locker room and told him, "Look, we both know that I'm going to win the match, but I'll help you if I see that Yui really does have feelings for your brother."

That raised his hackles, "You will not win!"

"Buy me dinner if I do!"

"Fine! You buy me dinner if I win!"

"Fine!"

They both stopped and looked at each other before racing towards the school building where the bell had just rang. Had they just agreed to a date? No! This was only to discuss Yui and Tsukito.


	12. Thoth

**A/N: I apologize that it has taken so long to get back around to this story. It was never my intention to leave it for so long and I'm disappointed in myself for leaving all of you hanging for so long. It should be updating more often going forward and I have not abandoned it. Life got in the way. Enjoy the new chapter and another one should be up next week.**

Chapter 12 – Thoth

Returning to the classroom, Takeru sank into his seat and heaved a sigh. He had run the whole way and found himself slightly out of breath, but at least he could claim he beat Michi to the main school building first. From there they had to go separate ways, so the race was over and he could claim victory.

And he would win the kendo match.

Never before had he felt as alive as when he was fighting her. How long had it been since he felt a rush like that? Well, there was the time they were trying to rescue Balder, but this was different. She challenged him at every turn and he liked it. Not that he liked her. He didn't. He couldn't. He wouldn't. In his eyes, Michi was just a means to an end. She would help him with his brother and Yui, and that is where their relationship would end. It mattered not that she intrigued him in a way that only one other person before her had. Yui had captured his attention in the garden, and now he felt Michi's presence drawing him in as well. It was probably because she was different and was actually skilled with the sword. That had to be it. Surely it couldn't be anything else.

"Takeru-san, where did you go?" Yui asked him across the aisle.

Without thinking, he answered, "Kendo match with your friend, Michi."

"EH?"

His quiet groan could still be heard by his brother and his friend, "Nothing."

"Takeru, why did you have a kendo match with her?" Tsukito inquired, confused as to why his brother would leave their little group.

What excuse could he give? If he told his brother and Yui the truth, they would probably try to stop him and deny their feelings for each other. His only option was to lie, "She challenged me and I accepted."

"How did she know you practice the sword?" Yui probed. While she knew her friend was on the kendo team, she didn't think Takeru or herself had ever mentioned the fact that he knew about such things to Michi.

"She overheard me ask about the kendo team here to one of the other students," his lies continued.

"Eh? Are you thinking about joining the team?"

"Takeru, we will not be here that long," Tsukito reminded him.

The Moon God's warning felt like a knife in the heart to Yui. No, they weren't going to be here that long, two months – maybe less - but that did not mean she needed to be reminded of that fact. Whatever question she had, died on her lips.

Takeru could see the brief despondent expression flitter across Yui's face before it was gone. It only lasted for a minute, and he was pretty sure his brother had missed it completely. Surely Tsukito wasn't in a hurry to leave. Right? "Ani…I know," he paused in order to pick his next words carefully, "but while we are here, we should try to experience and learn as much as we can. Don't you think?"

Considering his brother's words, Tsukito finally nodded, "Hai." His gaze flittered across his brother to Yui. Why was her head down? Was she feeling all right?

Did this mean he had to join the kendo team now? It hadn't been his intention, but it would give him the perfect excuse to meet with Michi without the prying eyes of the other gods. Plus they could plan and plot to their hearts content without the worry the others would bother them. Maybe joining the kendo team wouldn't be that bad after all…and it would help him to hone his sword skills. Yeah, those were good reasons. It certainly wasn't to spend extra time with a former Yankee. Not at all.

He couldn't wait until this afternoon when he could fight her again!

The afternoon felt like it dragged more than any other day. Takeru wanted the last bell to ring so he could rush to the dojo and suit up. He had a kendo match to win and a prize to collect. And then something happened.

Their two last classes of the day were government and philosophy, and today they had a new teacher. The gods and Yui never expected for a certain Egyptian god to waltz in. Ono-sensei introduced him as Thoth-sensei their new government and philosophy instructor.

Nine voices groaned in the background. No longer was Takeru fixated on getting to the dojo, now he worried more about his "new" teacher. Yui had known today was going too smoothly. Haruka had been leaving her alone today and other than Takeru disappearing at lunch, all seemed right with the world – or as right as it could be considering there were eight (now nine) gods attending her school. Tsukito didn't mind having Thoth has a sensei again. To him, the Egyptian god was familiar and made him more comfortable. For the others, they just wanted to survive school. They could all very well remember his attitude and teaching style when they studied with him in the garden. This was not going to be pleasant…at all.

As soon as the Ono-sensei left, the chattering from all but nine students began. First eight exchange students, and now one exchange teacher – who was also good looking – this was shaping into an interesting year indeed.

Slamming his fist down on the desk as soon as he heard the first murmurs, Thoth snapped, "Unless I ask you to speak, you are to stay quiet and listen. We will begin now!"

Shocked that a teacher would talk to them in that manner, the whispers ceased immediately and all eyes focused on the white haired sensei. There was something about him which made them fear crossing him.

So much information. The students were on information overload, but then again, what did one expect when their teacher was none other than the Egyptian God of the Moon and Wisdom, the one the Egyptians credited with being the author of all works pertaining to science, religion, philosophy, and magic. Not that they knew that. Other than nine souls in the room, no one knew the truth about him, or about how the nine thought he bordered on sadistic at times.

And when he was done teaching for the day, everyone – yes, everyone – released an audible sigh of relief. They were now free…until tomorrow.

Or so all of them thought.

Turning around, Thoth announced, "I need to see Kusanagi-san and the eight exchange students. Everyone else is dismissed." He waited until the nine students gathered around him and the others had left before he stated, "Zeus asked me to come and keep an eye on you."

"Thoth-sama…" Yui began and stopped when he slammed his hand against the desk again.

"I am not a babysitter. Do not cause me any trouble!" With that, he left the room and his former/current students alone.

"He's not going to be any fun. What can we do to loosen him up?" Loki snickered.

"NO!" Eight voices called out. The last thing they needed was to get on Thoth's bad side at school in the human world. Who knows what he would do to them.

Hearing voices in the corridor, Takeru remembered his previously scheduled date…I mean match. His eyes growing large, he rushed out the door, calling over his shoulder, "I have to meet with the kendo team." It wasn't a lie, but it wasn't the whole truth either.

Once he arrived at the dojo, he rushed into the boy's locker room and changed as quickly as he could, hoping he would beat Michi there, but he didn't. When he left the sanctity of the locker room, he found Michi in her armor and ready to go. Damn!

"I was beginning to wonder if you had chickened out," she taunted him.

Shaking his head, he retorted, "No, I decided you needed a head start since you were so slow at lunch."

"HA!"

He slid on the protective gear, grabbed a shinai, and met her on the mat. It was time to claim his victory.

To her, this would be a hard fought win, but she would win because she refused to lose to this blue haired stranger. It mattered not that his eyes seemed to hold her captive or that she liked how his blue hair reminded her of the sea on a bright summer day. NO! She would not think of that. She only needed one more point.

"I want a rematch!" Michi growled after her coach had called the match in Takeru's favor. It wasn't fair. Someone had called her name and distracted her!

"Maybe another day, but now you owe me dinner," her opponent reminded her.

"I'll win next time!"

"Maybe, but in the meantime, you have to help me."

"Whatever!" She had already been planning on helping him, however, now that she lost, part of her wanted to run away and lick her wounds. She wouldn't though. She was better than that and would help him just like she had agreed to do.

"Tomorrow after school, we'll talk."

"Fine," she pouted. Was it wrong that her heart skipped a beat at the thought of one on one time with him?

Takeru left her on the mat and went to change. He had to admit, he was looking forward to meeting with her, and he wasn't sure it was only so that she would help him bring his brother and Yui together.

 ** _Elsewhere…_**

While Balder and Apollo argued about who would carry Yui's belongings, Tsukito took her bag from her and threw it over his shoulder. He wasn't sure why he had done it, except to say that it had felt right. Yui made him want to do things for her that he had never thought of doing for anyone else before. Not for his brother or any of the other gods he lived with. Only her.


	13. Relinquish

**A/N: As promised, here is the next chapter. As you can tell both brothers will be paired with someone and I have plans for both couples, but for Tsukito and Yui specifically. I wanted to give all of you some fluff since I had taken a long break from this story. I promise longer chapter next go round! Enjoy!**

Chapter 13 – Relinquish

Frustration gripped Yui like a second skin, and anytime she was stressed or unable to think clearly, she pulled out her sword and practiced. It wasn't anything that would impact the world, maybe not even life altering for most; however, for her, it could be. She questioned everything Tsukito did, examining it under a microscope, looking for his reasons for everything. Because for him, there had to be reason behind the gesture.

Taking her bag and carrying it for her. Why? Saving her a seat. Why? Catching her when she falls. Why? Maybe she was overanalyzing it all, but this is what happened when she was around this man…this god.

He never did anything by himself, or at least before he never did. Now? She honestly didn't know. Part of her hoped that something was clicking inside him, that maybe he felt something towards her, but she couldn't be sure. Hope could sometimes be a wonderful thing, and yet, sometimes cruel beyond measure.

From the conversation before, she knew he had saved her a seat because his brother had told him to, or suggested it. So why had he taken her bag? Takeru hadn't been around, the others had been fighting, and he just took it, carrying it all the way home. Something so simple should not require so much analysis, but she couldn't help it. The smallest act from him could mean so much…she wanted it to mean the world. She wanted him to feel for her what she felt for him.

Thus after dinner, as the sun started to set and the moon began to rise, she swung her sword praying for clarity.

"Weed!" Takeru called to her. He knew better than to get too close while she practiced. Her sword was sharp, and while he may be a god, he would much prefer not being run through with any sharp object.

Another slice and then she sheathed her weapon and turned around. Only one person called her weed, therefore, she knew who it was before she turned around. "Hai, Takeru-san?"

"You disappeared right after dinner. Are you all right?" He hadn't been the only one worried about her. The others had been as well since she had been abnormally quiet during the evening meal and had disappeared right after.

Nodding, she answered, "Just practicing."

He wasn't stupid. He knew it was more than that because he probably understood more than the others. She had talked to him before they had been reunited, confiding in him. The others may fight for her heart, but someone else already possessed it.

What she may not realize, his brother also had feelings for her. Tsukito may not understand them or be able to voice them – yet – but he still loved her. Takeru could see it on his face every time he talked about Yui, which wound up being a daily occurrence. The other gods old him to forget the human, but he couldn't. Even if Yui's life was only seconds to a god, Tsukito could never forget the girl with purple hair. To a god who had previously looked at everything as a mission or duty, Yui had helped him to see there was more in the world; and for that, Takeru was grateful to the girl.

Of course, she had not only helped Tsukito but she had opened up the hearts and eyes to all of the gods that had been forced to endure Zeus's school. Even Zeus himself.

"Want to talk?"

"Eh? No! I'm fine!"

"You used to talk to me. You came to the sea and would start spilling your guts. It was kind of annoying," he tempered his words with a smile and a wink.

Her eyes grew large and she gasped, "You…you heard?"

"If you didn't think I'd hear, why did you go out into the sea?" His brow drew up in confusion.

"Well…I did…but…ano…" she stammered and then looked at him directly, "When one prays to the gods, one does not expect to be confronted with it face to face."

Unable to hold it in, he bent over and laughed. Her logic was flawed and her reasoning left a lot to be desired. Really? She didn't expect to be confronted face to face? Unlike most humans she knew the gods really did exist. She had cohabitated, mingled, ate, and learned with them, and now she says something like that? It made him laugh and think she might have possibly lost her mind.

"It's not funny!"

"It is! Weed, you asked us to come back and when we do, you say something like that?"

He had her there and she knew it. Turning bright red, she narrowed her eyes and snapped, "I didn't know what had happened! And then you come back and…" Before she could say anything that would implicate her, she clamped her mouth shut. While standing in the ocean she may have confessed a few things she probably shouldn't have, but standing face to face, seeing them in person, it was different. She couldn't readily spill her guts, confess her feelings, or pray for her heart's desire.

Pulling her into a hug, he spoke softly, "I know. It's different, but we're here…he's here. Don't worry about the why's and just let it happen." He released her and left her alone after that.

Yui watched his retreating form with a furrowed brow. Did he mean Tsukito? Did he understand her struggles and her questions? Surely not, and yet, it felt like he may comprehend more than anyone else. Maybe even more than herself.

She wasn't sure how long she stood there, frozen where Takeru had just left her, but soon she heard rustling coming from her left and glanced into the moonlit lawn. An unbidden smile appeared on her lips when she noticed the Mood God settling down onto the grass, sitting on a blanket.

Just his presence drew her to him and as she got closer, she noticed he had laid down two blankets. He sat on one and beside him lay an empty one. Had he been expecting her? Or maybe he was waiting on someone else? "Tsukito-san?"

"Kusanagi Yui, will you watch the moon with me again tonight?" he asked. When he had come out to perform his duty as the Moon God, he had hoped she might join him. This girl made him do things that felt foreign to him, and at the same time, they felt so right. After she had left them earlier in the evening, he felt torn. Part of him wanted to go after her and part of him wanted to leave her alone in order to give her some space. But still he grabbed two blankets when he came out here in the hopes she would want to gaze at the moon and stars with him.

Grinning, she nodded and settled on the extra blanket. She should have known he wouldn't be waiting for anyone else. This had become their thing, something they did without the others intruding. Their special time. Or at least she thought of it as their special time. Maybe he didn't.

Takeru's words echoed in her head at that thought, _"_ _Don't worry about the why's and just let it happen."_ Just let it happen? It was not something she was used to do, but darting her eyes to the man sitting next to her, maybe she could for him.

Like the night of the moon viewing, she would just let everything happen naturally. Leaning back, her hands resting on either side of her, Yui relaxed, giving up her inherent need to search for answers. Takeru was right. The why's didn't matter. Right here, in this moment with Tsukito, that is what mattered the most. And when his hand grazed hers, his pinky linking with hers, she smiled as her cheeks turned pink and stared up at the moon with her favorite Moon God.

Behind them, standing in the shadow, a blue hair god smiled. Maybe his brother was finally realizing a few things on his own.


	14. Discovery

**A/N: I know I promised a longer chapter this go round, but next time. I finished with my new novel which will be released next week, and as I re-read this story, I wanted to add something to it. We see so much of everyone else, but not the other gods. I felt like it was missing. So this chapter will feature them. I apologize for taking so long to update I tried to update a couple of days ago, but fanfiction for some reason would not let me actually post anything. That is fixed and I'm back on track now, and can focus again.**

Chapter 14 – Discovery

It did not escape anyone's notice that Yui seemed out of sorts at dinner that night, nor did anyone miss the fact she disappeared quickly after the meal ended. Why? What had happened? Normally, she would have eaten her meal, but this time she picked at it, barely eating anything. It wasn't normal. Not for her.

Apollo tried to follow her, but his uncle and brother stopped him, urging with him to give her some space. Dionysus even commented that it might be "girl" problems.

"Girl problems?" the blond god questioned.

Laughing, Dionysus told him, "They have issues once a month and…" He looked to Hades to help him, but the God of the Underworld shook his head, abandoning his nephew. "They just have problems." Being the God of Fertility and Wine, he knew what the female body went through. Explaining it to his brother though…being alive as long as they had, didn't Apollo know anything?

"Oh. Should we help her?"

"No, let her have some space," Hades said, placing his hand on his nephews shoulder to hold him in place.

Loki listened to the exchange and threw his head back laughing. "You're idiots."

Balder frowned at his friend. "Do you think she needs help? Are the girl problems hurting her? Maybe I should go and find her."

This time it was Thor that stopped his friend. "Leave her alone. Hades is correct, she needs space."

"Are you sure?"

"Yes."

It wasn't that Balder didn't trust his friend, he did, but Yui was special and to see her tonight had twisted his heart. The girl was special, and he wanted her for himself. That said, he also knew that the majority of gods at the table wanted her as more than a friend. Competition was fierce, and yet, he got the distinct impression that he had already lost, and he didn't know why he felt that way exactly. That said, until he knew for sure he had lost, he wasn't done fighting for her.

Takeru sat back and watched everything, everyone. Their worry and love for Yui was evident on their faces. Each god had special feelings for the human girl that showed them what it meant to care, to look beyond their boundaries and realize that the universe was drastically different than they realized. With her help, they were no longer the unfeeling, uncaring, shallow men/gods they once were.

It hadn't surprised him when she suddenly showed up at the sea and prayed to him, not had it completely surprised him when he learned of her feelings for his brother. The day Loki bound Tsukito and Yui together, he could see something forming and growing between them. He believed the others saw it too, but they liked to pretend that they were ignorant, because if they acknowledged it, they also had to admit that Yui was not theirs to have. They loved her, and although she was the person that taught the how to love for others beyond themselves, she hadn't taught them how to let go.

And if things went the way Takeru hoped they would, the other gods would learn what loss truly meant. Some of them – all of them – had experience with loss. Contrary to popular belief, a god could cease to exist. He had lost the goddess that he had been close to. Apollo lost a woman he loved. Hades dealt with loss on a daily basis being the God of the Underworld. And Takeru was sure the others had suffered at some point in their life as well. It was one of the reasons, at least speaking for himself, they had begun closing themselves off to others long ago. Yui changed everything, which meant although he was loath to admit it, Takeru had to thank Zeus for bringing her to the tabletop garden to show them what it meant to be human.

Therefore, if anyone deserved to be with the one person he/she loved, it was Yui. And Takeru would make sure it happened.

Just as he was about to say something to his brother, he noticed Tsukito get up from the table and quietly leave the room, and without anyone noticing, he did as well. He wanted to talk to their hostess…unless Tsukito got to her first.

After Takeru left, Apollo asked, "Where is Take-take going?"

Everyone ceased their chatter and surveyed the room. Balder spoke first, "Tsukito-san is gone as well."

As one, they got up and rushed to the door, only to be stopped in their tracks by Yui's mother and brothers. Tonight was their turn to do the clean-up from dinner, and after that, Yui's brothers started asking them questions about their home countries.

By the time they were able to escape their hosts and make it outside, they found Yui sitting next to Tsukito staring up at the moon. Apollo tried to run over to them much like he had the night of the moon viewing in the garden, but before he could Dionysus and Thor grabbed him and yanked him backwards.

Now was not the time to intrude. At dinner, Yui seemed so out of sorts and agitated, but now, an expression of peace and contentment softened her face as her lips lifted in a smile. This was her moment, and no one should rob her of it…even if they wanted to. In fact, Apollo and Balder had to be dragged back to the bunk house. They could have their moment another day, if they could steal her heart away from the Moon God.

This wasn't over. Balder and Apollo believed that tonight was nothing more than a friendly gesture - at least that's what they wanted to believe. They weren't ready to give her up just yet. They would win her, or so they hoped.


End file.
